


Secundus

by Tergen



Series: Tales of the Legion [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-02-22
Packaged: 2018-09-26 03:24:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 55,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9859961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tergen/pseuds/Tergen
Summary: Alex was never normal. That was apparent from the moment she woke up in pain to a alien with blue skin being her friend. The fact that she had no memory of where she was or who she was before then just made that more obvious. So how does one go about regaining lost time? Adventure and discovery. This leads eventually into the events of Mass Effect.





	1. Chapter 1

There are some days when everything seems to blend together. Points where you sit there and think: what the hell am I doing? And then the pain comes, that ache that you get that wraps around your forehead because you thought too hard about things. Sometimes it’s just easier to not think about it at all.

Here I was, lying on my back wondering just what the hell I had gotten myself into. The cold metal beneath me held no warmth and that kept the pain of my back at bay. I knew I was going to be paying for this later. Maybe the doc could help but then I would have to talk to her, speak of my problems, ones I had no clue how to describe or even respond to. It really sucked when your past was a huge effin wall of fog.

This rounds right on back to the reason I was laid flat on the deck in the bay. A tall woman with dark hair stood over me with a look that could peel paint off the side of a barn at a quarter of a mile. The pain finally ebbed and I pushed myself up with a grimace at the twinge of warning, that and the numbness that ran down my leg.

With a groan I got up on one knee and out of the corner of my eye I saw movement and lifted up my arm, blocking the leg that kicked out at me. My arm then wrapped around that leg and... oh shit. The other leg that belonged to the woman rose up. I switched my other hand up to the thigh and ducked while pushing away and down. The woman landed on her back just as I had a minute ago. I stood up then, almost falling back on my ass as I eyed her warily.

The woman laid there a moment to let the ringing of her head fade before she lifted her head up and arched a brow. “Really? Keeping that one away from me?” She grinned.

I smirked at her. “A magician never reveals their secrets. The way is to deflect and set off balance. When you kicked with your free leg, you gave me a chance to deflect that with your own momentum. Very few can get away with that,” I said and tisked.

She gave me a sheepish look. “Yea, sorry about that.”

I offered my hand to her and helped her to her feet with a chuckle. “Most martial arts are about perfect body and perfect mind. Even after all this time its second nature to me,” I said and trailed off with a frown. The question was, where did I learn it?

“One of my old instructors in basic was like you. Never did get the hang of it. He said I was always in a rush and got too excited.” She gave a unrepentant shrug.

“He was right. Martial Arts are like dancing. Did he ever show you the basic katas?” I tilted my head slightly towards her, waiting on an answer.

“Kata? Noooo, I don’t think I even know what that means. I mean, sheesh, give me a bar brawl any time and I will wipe the floor with anyone but you, you would stand there, drop me to my ass and then give me a disappointed look even if it was a bar brawl.” She walked over to the table and leaned against it, crossing her arms and looking down at her standard military boots.

“Well maybe that is the problem. I spend a few hours a day with the katas, normally in the mornings. If you want, join me and I will show you the basic ones. That might help you in the long run understand that sometimes you have to wait for the first move then react accordingly,” I said in teasing tone to her and she laughed.

“Yea that’s me, Ashley “Rushing” Williams,” she said dryly and I laughed.

“Ah grasshopper, learn patience and wisdom at my feet,” I responded with and then snorted in amusement at her look of confusion.

“Shit, I got just enough time to get washed up and on duty. I’ll talk to you later Stef,” Ashley said and hurried off towards the slowest elevator in the universe.

I just chuckled again and then sighed; rubbing my back then limped over to the tool bench and sat down on the box next to it. The numbness took a bit to fade away and I made my way to the lift, heading up to the medical deck to just get it over with. I really couldn’t live with this and still do my ‘job’ so to say. So I stiffly entered the med bay and nodded to the elder woman sitting there.

“And to what do I owe for this visit,” she said regally, her voice barely hinting at upper-crust British society vernacular.

I made a face and then eased myself down on one of the beds. “Well, a few years ago I had a fall as far as I can guess and I assume that I cracked something considering my leg goes numb from time to time. Either spine or head injury would be my best guess. And no, I cannot even tell you how it happened because I lost whatever memories I had before then.” I gave a shrug, frowning a bit.

“Well then, the best way to get an idea is to do a full scan and see what I can find. That bed will do. Just lay down and I will get things started.” She lifted her arm up and the omni-tool came to life. After she tapped out a few things on it she leaned back against her desk. “Just lay still while the scanner does its thing.”

I laid there for ten minutes while the damned thing scanned me, rolling over to my stomach when she told me too. When it was done I turned my head to see her frowning at her omni-tool a moment then she walked over, waving me to not move.

“Hmm, lay still a moment more if you would.” She then ran her fingers down my spine and lightly pushed before snatching her hand away when I let go with a strangled gasp at the sudden pain and the lack of feeling in my legs.

“Shit, that did something besides pain. Legs are tingly an-,” I really never got a chance to say anything else because the whole world went black much to my relief considering the pain her touch brought me.

So lets go back to the beginning, long before I met Ashley and the rest of the crew. Like I told the dock, everything before my ‘accident’ was a grey blur of fog to me. All I really know is waking up in pain to see a blurry blue figure leaning over me and I was too weak to move. That is how I met Liara T’Soni.

She was doing research out in a remote area and apparently I decided to break my back or head there a few days earlier. She found me at the bottom of that rock slide lying next to an artifact that had caught her eye half buried in the scree. Liara did the best she could for me that day, fed me and made sure I had enough to drink. I could tell she wasn’t much of a talker but then again, at that moment neither was I.

Consider it a boon that the area we were in had no predators. I slept most of the time and she wandered out to see if there were any more artifacts, returning to the one at the camp when she found nothing. When I was awake I learned her name, that she was a student with some school back on her home world and that she was studying Prothean ruins.

We were both relived when the feeling came back to my legs. Me because that meant that I was not going to be wheeling myself around for the rest of my life and Liara wouldn’t have to figure out how to get me back to the home camp in the next few days. Considering she was so animated with talking about the Protheans I learned more than anyone else could have expected about the Protheans from her.

We got back to the base camp and Liara explained that I had gotten lost and injured. This area wasn’t a popular spot for travelers to hike and view the ruin so that bit of puzzle left the both of us confused. And since my memory was all but gone of my past I had no clue what I was doing there in the first place. All in all Chasca was still beautiful. Well at least the night sky was, diamonds sparkling in the sky. I learned later than was due to some ancient ‘art’ ringing the world.

The group was leaving the next day and Liara insisted that I needed to go with them. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of that at first. As far as I knew I had never really talked to any of the other races but then again I had no memory of that either. I was glad for the sonic shower though I did discover a tattoo on my upper arm of a three pronged trident.

I sighed as I sat gingerly down, my back still hurt but it was a dull throb at least, something I could ignore. Liara glanced over at my sigh and then back to her paper. I rubbed my back as I glanced over at her. She wasn’t actually doing anything but staring at the paper on her omni tool.

“Liara?”

The Asari was startled out of her thoughts when I spoke and her head jerked up. “Yes?” There was hesitancy in her voice that spoke more of who she was than anything.

“You seemed distracted, more so than your thesis can explain. Is there something wrong?” The blue skinned alien lowered her gaze away from me back to her omni tool and then shut it down.

“I am sorry if I offended you,” she said and clasped her hands in her lap. Everything spoke of shyness to me.

“What? No, you haven’t offended me at all. I am just concerned that you are not giving more attention to your favorite subject,” I said with a slight teasing tone.

That made her eyes widen a moment before she realized I was teasing her. “Oh…,” she trailed off and glanced to the left in thought. “Sorry, your situation distracted me. I really have not had a lot of contact with your race. I is hard for me to understand Humans sometimes.”

I laughed at that. “Darlin’ it’s hard for me to understand my own race sometimes. Do not worry about that, I am hard to offend.” Then I snapped my mouth shut. That had come out without me thinking about it and Liara could see my frown.

“I think your memory loss is not a total loss. Perhaps it’s blocked? Some of your idioms… puzzle me. Is not saying ‘darlin’ a term of endearment between lovers?” Now there was  a look of interest on her face, she was back in learning mode as I started to call it.

“Not exactly. It can be between lovers and also between friends. I-,” I closed my mouth and furrowed my brows, giving her a furtive glance before straightening up. “I hope I can be called your friend eventually Liara.” There, she at least knew my reasoning, perhaps she understood that my use of that term was more because I already saw her as a friend.

“Oh.” She sat there and looked down at her hands, trying to understand the motives of this human woman talking to her. It took her a few minutes before she blinked and glanced up in surprise. “Oh, I see. You think of me as your friend already?”

I laughed. “Yes, yes I do. You took an injured stranger, helped them, fed them and talked to them when they had barely more of a clue than what their name was. You do realize that most people, most races, would ignore that and shrug it off, right?”

Liara shrugged. “I would not know that. I… I tend to pay a lot of attention to my classes and class work.”

I nodded. “Liara, not everything can be learned in a book,” I told her and gave her a lopsided smile.

She opened her mouth a moment then shut it and eyed me. “I am beginning to see that. I have never had a friend before,” She mused, glancing at me. “It is… unique and certainly not something I can read about.”

I grinned at her. “Nope, not at all. So what do you plan on doing when your group leaves here?”

A troubled look crossed her face briefly. “I need to finish my thesis. This is the last class I need for my doctorate.”

I could tell there was more that she was not saying but I was not going to push her. “And me. I do not know what I will do,” I said softly, a frown crossing my face now.

We sat there for a minute before Liara spoke again, hesitating a moment. “You- I- Oh Goddess!” She threw her hands up in the air a moment. “What I am trying to say is you could travel with me back to Thessia. Maybe you can find work or figure out who you are.”

That made sense to me and I nodded thoughtfully. “Better than being left here. There’s not a lot around here for me. I hate having to depend on you because it’s not right considering all you’ve done for me so far but… thank you. I will accept your offer.”

She looked relived at what I said and smiled for the first time I could recall. “Then it is settled. I have a small apartment off the campus. You are more than welcome to the couch till you are back on your feet and feel you are able to stand on your own.”

I nodded. “I really appreciate this. I know it’s a lot for you considering you are offering a virtual stranger a place. I know trust is not an easy thing to give.” The gods know I have issues trusting. Like that other Asari, she kept on giving Liara furtive glances all the time. Once was coincidence, twice happen stance and three times conspiracy in my mind.

The next day I helped her pack up the camp. They took down the prefab buildings quickly and Liara told me how to pack them away in the crates. While it was hard work, it was easy for me. This gave me a chance to watch everyone. The other Asari, whose name I learned was Telitha, continued to give Liara furtive glances. I still did not know what to make of it.

“Here,” Liara said, handing me a bottle of water which I uncapped and took a deep drink from.

“What’s Telitha’s story,” I asked the maiden Asari without nodding towards the other Asari.

“Her? I- I do not know,” she said, startled at that. “Why?”

“She keeps on looking at you. If I were to surmise, she might be attracted to you,” I teased and Liara blushed.

“No. No… I-,” she trailed off and ducked her head down. I could see I embarrassed her.

“Sorry Liara, I didn’t mean to upset you.” And with that I sighed. Yea, throttle back the teasing till she’s more use to it.

Her head rose up and she gave me a doubtful look a moment. “You did not upset me. Embarrassed yes, upset no.”

I nodded slowly and then finished my water. “Well let me get this crate over with the rest. Still got the last prefab to take down. I think another hour should see everything packed.” I glanced over as a shuttle landed near the rest of the crates and some of the students started to put the crates in. “Maybe…,” I couldn’t tell. This research dig brought almost too much with them. “Honestly, this is the worst way to learn how to contend with isolation on digs and research. Prefabs?” I shook my head and twisted the cap on the bottle. “Thanks for the water.”

“Of course Alex,” she said with a smile and took the bottle.

I was right; it took a total of 4 hours more before everything was loaded back on the ship but grateful for the climate that wasn’t too hot or too cool. Liara showed me where the showers were and I cleaned up with real water and soap. If you’ve gone long days without a shower then you know the feeling of grunge that gets overwhelming enough to be glad to scrub raw almost.

The trip back to the university was only a few days. Liara gave me a few books to read considering I lacked an omni tool. That was one of my first purchases once I had some credits. At least till I found an odd bulge in the pants I wore. I puzzled over it a bit before I finally figured out how to get at the item. It turned out to be a credit chit with my name on it. It wasn’t much but there was enough to get some clothing, a basic omni tool and maybe some other things.

“Well, I might not have too many issues,” I said as I entered the small cabin that I shared with Liara, holding up the credit chit.

“Oh? Where did that come from?” She glanced up from her thesis, setting it down to the side to pay attention to me.

“Hidden away in the band of my pants apparently. Whatever foresight I had to putting it there I can only thank my luck for needing it and finding it before hand.” I shrugged and pocketed the chit. “Gives me a chance to get some needed things when we arrive.”

Liara nodded slowly. “I can show you where… when we get back,” she was a bit distracted and glanced back at her report.

“Let me get out of your way then. I know you are really working hard on your thesis,” I said, understanding just how much rode on her report for her.

Without another word I backed out of the cabin and settled in the small lounge, watching the stars pass with a glass of water in hand. A few of the students came up to me and started to talk. I never had issues with responding just with telling them anything beyond the day Liara found me. There was a Salarian, Kirrahe, who spent the most time discussing with me things he found and his curiosity over my appearance.

I have to say, talking with a Salarian was interesting. He shoot questions out faster than a six-shooter in the hands of a gunslinger and it took me a few minutes to catch up. The more I talked with him the easier it was and he talked about himself. I learned about out Salarians in general from him and we naturally became friends. In fact the only one who wasn’t friendly was Telitha.

“So you are saying that a full name includes the location you are born, your clan and your given name?” I arched a brow up at that. That had to make their names long enough to be a mouthful.

He nodded. “Oh yes. It brings us great pride to... no not pride, never pride but purpose, yes purpose! To bring a sense of amity I ask that I be called by my given name Kirrahe.”

I leaned back and snorted in amusement. “I see. You Salarian are so hyper than you can say your full names in the same time it takes me to say my name.”

Kirrahe laughed. “Very true, but we live brief lives, less than your own race does.” He looked down. “One day I would love to figure out how to extend our race’s lives.”

“Is that why you are here digging around the old bones and dirt?” I gave him a curious look, wanting to see his reasons.

“Yes. Understanding the past lets me make connections to the future. Knowing how other races evolved helps me understand how ours differs.” He took a sip of his drink and turned to watch the stars out the port side window. “Out there is our future.”

I pondered his words a moment then glanced at him. “Well, be aware that if you wish to reach that goal some of your gifts might be lost in the process. Picking and choosing what you want to try and keep is something to think on. Genetics is also one of those grey areas where everyone looks askance at it.”

“You are right. Those with lesser morals cause more damage. And some started out with better morals. I hope to never be to that point.” He nodded quickly a few times.

 I smiled at him. “Listen, your goal is a worthy one. Learning is a start. Understanding the pitfalls is the best thing you can do.”

He glanced at his omni tool and frowned. “Well I would love to talk more but I am scheduled to work in engineering shortly.” He stood up and tossed his glass into the recycler. “Have a good evening.”

I just nodded and gave him a salute before turning to watch the stars. This was the best place to think on the ship. If I understood correctly we had another half a day to the Relay and then a half day of travel back to Hyetiana. I glanced down at the forgotten book then back up to the stars and let my mind drift.


	2. Chapter 2

The ship docked at in Port Lerama easily enough and since I barely had anything of note on me I helped Liara with her stuff. She protested when I slung the sack over my shoulder but I just smirked at her. The Asari was getting use to me enough that she just sighed and shook her head. Yes, I had won this round.

I waited beside her while the rest of the students disembarked, waving to Kirrahe as he rushed off. After all our talking he was most certainly focused on another line that I had accidently instilled in him. Maybe one day I would find out what that line was. Telitha glared briefly at me before she rushed off and my only impression was snotty. What a bitch. I shook my head to that thought and Liara gave me a questioning look. I only gestured to the departing Asari as answer.

“Well we need to get you first to Customs and I think set you up as an immigrant,” Liara said with a frown. “I have no clue how that will go over.”

I snorted in amusement. “Yea… it will go over real good for someone who has no memories.” I lathered on the sarcasm thick and Liara just smiled faintly at it.

Liara waited till the professor moved past her before following. I followed along like a little lost kitten. Once we were past the checkpoint she turned towards the Customs and Immigration area, if the sign flickering was any indication. It was a metallic counter staffed by a darker blue almost purple Asari who looked up when Liara and I stepped over to the counter.

“Welcome to Port Lerama. Are you new or immigrating?” She said, looking at Liara.

“What? Oh no, not me.” Liara stepped to the side and I moved up.

“Hi, I am not sure how this works honestly and there is one issue to go along with it that would give anyone a headache.” I gave the Asari a lopsided smile.

“Oh? I am sure we can accommodate you. Please tell me your name,” She held up her arm, omni-tool coming to life.

“Alexandra Stefanos,” I responded with.

She did something and then frowned, typing something into the haptic interface. “I see.”

“Maybe, “ Was my noncommittal answer to her. “You might know more than I do about me.”

She worked at it a few more minutes before glancing back up. “Well, it seems as if there is very little information to pull up on you. If you could answer some questions we might be able to get this figured out.”

“Well about a month ago I apparently was on Chasca. Liara found me around one of the ruins there badly injured. And I’ve been following her around since. Another problem is the fact that I have no memory of much beyond my name. And no idea of what you can do to help me at least.” I frowned at her because it bothered me a lot more than I let Liara know.

“The human embassy might be able to help more than I can. Let me put in a notification and a representative should arrive soon. If you would like to take a seat in the lounge,” she gestured towards the doorway.

“Ok.” I turned to Liara. “Why don’t you go and get settled in. I get the feeling I will be here a while.”

Liara nodded slightly. “Ok, I will come back here once I am.” She then turned and left.

“Liara,” I said a bit louder to catch her attention. “You might want this,” I offered, holding up her sack.

She just rushed back with a blush and took it. “Sorry, distracted.” I just laughed and shooed her away before heading towards the lounge.

I sat down on one of the many seats and glanced out the window at the life beyond the space port. Aircars flew back and forth along with some heavier shipper haulers. Then I let my gaze unfocus, letting my thoughts turn inwards, trying to understand what happened to me. A while later I came to as someone gently shook my shoulder.

“Are you Alexandra Stefanos?” It was a woman with blond hair perfectly shaped in a suit with the symbol of the embassy on the right shoulder.

I nodded and offered my hand after standing up. “Yup. I hope you can help me here considering my problem.”

“Ah well that is going to be fun for me,” she said with a smirk. “I am Jan Moller, one of the many diplomats in the embassy’s employ. If you would come with me, we can get you to the embassy first and then see what we can do for you. Only one issue is that you will have to be guarded at all times when you are off then embassy grounds.”

I nodded, resigned to the fact that it was going to be a battle. “About what I expected from someone with no past basically. I only have one problem, I do need an omni tool and was hoping to acquire one here.”

She smiled. “Well then that will be one of the stops we make on the way to the embassy. I assume you have no other clothing but for what you are wearing?”

I nodded. “Yea, as much as I love this shirt and pants, wearing them day in and day out makes me feel like a slob.”

She just laughed as she turned and made her way out of the room. I lurched forwards to catch up to her and follow her through the space port. Two Alliance soldiers merged behind me with pistols at their side, neither looking left or right as they followed us. We exited the building into a down right cold as hell weather which had me twitching a bit. Jan saw that and hurried us over to the aircar waiting.

“Sorry about that. Even on the equatorial areas you still need a jacket for the weather. That will be something else to get you, yes?” She smiled brightly as I settled in the back seat next to her.

The soldiers sat in the front, the one driving turning back to Jan. “Ma’am?”

She glanced up. “Take us to the plaza first, to Serrice Council’s store.” The solider just nodded and turned away, starting the aircar up and then, with precision, pulling out into traffic.

“How bad will this be for me do you think?” I took the bottle of water she offered me and uncapped it, taking a drink.

“Well there was little information to access publically but I left the VI to search through official government channels so when we get back to the embassy we might have an easier time.” She took a sip from her own bottle of water.

Ten minutes later the aircar set down and the soldiers got out, opening the doors for us. Jan motioned for me to follow her and headed towards the glass fronted store that proclaimed it as Serrice Council. I followed her into the warmer store and glanced around at the wall displays. One was an advertisement for an Amp and another for armor and weapons and the last for omni tools.

“Welcome to Serrice Council. How may I help you?” The Asari said with a smile.

“I have a person that needs an omni tool,” Jan said and motioned to me.

The Asari smiled at me and gestured me forwards. “I just need some information first. Name?” I gave it to her. She frowned a bit then glanced up only to be cut off by Jan.

“We, the human embassy, know about her issue which we are looking to resolve quickly. I would appreciate cooperation and helping her,” She said and there was a tone of authority in her voice.

“If you would give me a moment, I will need to talk to the manager about this to get it approved.” She turned without saying another word, walking through a door behind her.

I tilted my head towards Jan with a smirk. “You like doing that don’t you?”

Jan gave me a wide grin. “I love doing that.” She then schooled her face into a stern frown when the door opened again and the Asari returned with another following.

“We apologize for the wait,” the new Asari said. “Normally we ask for background information so we can keep records. I understand that Alexandra Stefanos,” She paused and looked at me and I nodded back, “That Stefanos has been flagged as an amnesiac and there is no information publically about her?”

“Indeed. If not for one of the University teaching digs, she would have remained there on Chasca apparently. This is just as new to me as of a hour ago.” Jan gave a warm smile to the manager who seemed not phased about it.

Instead the Asari turned towards me and studied me a moment like she was searching for something. Suddenly a startled look crossed her face and she schooled it back to the placid smile she had before that. “I think we can accommodate you. Narena, please help Ms. Stefanos.” She then turned and headed back through the door.

I gave Jan a concerned look then turned back to Narena. “Well, I guess…?”

Narena just smiled and motioned me over. “We have some selection and because of your situation I think we can give you special dispensation for your purchase. Also a discount due to your situation via the embassy?” She glanced up at Jan who nodded.

“Yes I am authorized to use our discounts,” she said after glancing at her omni tool when it beeped at her. “Alex, apparently there is a package waiting for you back at the embassy too,” she said puzzled.

I arched a brow up. “What the-,” and then shrugged. I had no clue what happened so I turned to Narena. “Well show me what you have in stock then.” I leaned over to the display and Narena took me through each of the versions of the Savant omni tool. I had to admit, they were expensive but I had the credits for it on the chit.

Jan stepped away to check on what the VI had pulled up on me and one of the soldiers followed her while the other waited by me. I could feel him there but he was doing his best to not distract me. I bit my lip because I really wanted the top of the line one but that would leave me with little left.

“I think as much as I want to drool over the Savant X that I will go with the VIII instead,” I said with a sigh.

Narena smiled at me. “Well the cost is about 15,650 credits on the X and the the VIII is about 8500 credits. With the discount and dispensation that would be about 10,230 on the X and about 5800 on the VII. Are you sure?”

I hesitated. That sounded better and finally sadly nodded. “I know, it’s pitiful but I can’t disagree with that.” I held out the credit chit and she took it, scanned it then handed it back to me.

“If you will excuse me a few moments I will go get it.” She turned and walked away to the back, returning a few minutes later with the omni tool.

I pocketed the chit and waited patiently, glancing around. Something red caught my eye a moment before Narena came back and distracted me. She offered me the band and I wrapped it around my wrist. It came alive and she helped me a few minutes with setting it up. “I guess I will at least have a distraction while waiting for things to get resolved,” I said with a smirk and Narena just smiled at me.

“I hope you enjoy your omni tool Ms. Stefanos,” she said with a bright smile then turned to the next customer waiting. “Ah yes. The paperwork has been finalized Ms. Y’larh”

I turned away and walked towards Jan with my soldierly shadow following me. She glanced up at me a moment then back to her omni tool.

“Well now I think that some clothing and a jacket would be next on the list,” I said once I got into hearing of her.

“Good, the VI has some information but it is… odd. It will not release it to me till we are back at the embassy. Odd.” She frowned at that then smiled at me. “Let’s get you something more than just those tattered clothing.”

“I guess any information is better than the blank I have,” I offered with a grin.

She just laughed and walked out of the door, turning right and heading to the next store. I followed, feeling like a tourist as I damn near gave myself whiplash from looking around. Jan ignored that, understanding too well how that was considering she did the same thing herself the first few days she was here.

She paused before another store with clothing in the window. I saw that red light again but then she opened the door and smirked as I shivered in the cold. “Come on, let’s get you something else to wear. Something a bit warmer.”

My agreement was my rush into the store to get out of the cold air. “Damn, this will take getting used to.” I rubbed my arms to warm up and glanced up as another Asari approached. “I need a jacket and some change of clothing. Maybe a few pairs of pants in human style, some shirts. Underthings.” I sighed.

“Oh, well then you have come to the right place,” the Asari said brightly. You could tell she was younger, still naïve about things.

An hour later I had a faux bomber jacket to wear, 3 changes of clothing with some shirts that fit tightly but gave me movement and those underthings that gave me the most trouble. What is it about underwear and bras that made everyone blush like a virgin? I shook my head at that without speaking.

“Well let’s get back to the embassy now so we can find out why the hell my VI is being a dick,” Jan said.

I laughed at that as we exited the store and for a moment my vision turned red. Without understanding what happened I tripped Jan then swept the feet out from under the solider to my right just as the report of a crack rang out over the plaza. The glass of the store behind me was spider cracked with a neat hole in the center of the damage. One of the soldiers cursed and then covered me while the other did the same to Jan. Both had their pistols out and were wildly looking around for whoever took the shot.

I nudged the solider laying over me with a smirk. “As much as I like a man to take control I do not think that sniper is going to be waiting for us or any of the other security around to catch them.”

“Shit!” He said and stood up, offering me a hand. “If it wasn’t for you that shot would have not only hit you but me.” He glanced up at the office building adjacent to us. “Not a very good sniper if they missed, even from this distance.” The building was not taller than three stories tall. I had to agree with him.

“Ma’am,” the other solider said, helping Jan up. “We need to get you both back to the embassy ASAP.”

Jan nodded and shivered slightly. “What a fucked up day,” she muttered and shook her head, as the soldiers shoved us along to the aircar.

Neither relaxed till they had grounded at the embassy’s parking garage and they followed us in to the building only to come at parade rest outside Jan’s office door. “We will be right here if you need us Diplomat Moller,” one solider said with a salute.

Jan just waved them off and flicked her fingers towards me in a gesture of follow. I could tell she wasn’t happy with what had happened and the way she paced behind her desk after pointing for me to sit in the chair before it said even more. I remained silent while she paced and then she spun and viciously pushed a button.

“Grey, give me access to the information you refused to send to me. Now.” There was anger in her voice now.

“Certainly Mrs. Moller,” the VI’s metallic voice responded with and the haptic computer interface on her desk lit up to show her what information had been obtained. She started to read it and then suddenly sat down.

“Is this everything Grey?” She asked, a tone in her voice that confused me.

“Yes Mrs. Moller,” the VI responded with promptly.

“Shit.” She leaned back in her chair and eyed me a moment before reaching out and pressing a button which made my omni tool beep at me.

I glanced down as I lifted my arm up and the display showed that information. I read through it and then lowered my arm down and blinked a bit. “That might explain why I got a pot shot taken at me,” I said with a murmur.

“Indeed.” Jan reached out and typed in something on the haptic interface before her. “Grey, make sure all relevant information is erased. The only copy is in the possession of Ms. Stefanos as of now.”

“Complying.” The VI paused for half a second then spoke again. “Done. I could not access the data that came from the Alliance’s Intelligence Agency so two copies remain Mrs. Moller.”

“Remove the relevant data from your own drive Grey and any references to Ms. Stefanos,” Jan said and then rubbed her forehead. “I was due for some difficulties and you are that,” she said dryly.

“Data removed,” the VI said and then went silent.

“I… did not expect that at all,” I started to say but a knock at the door had me go quiet.

“Enter,” Jan said and a clerk entered, carrying an elongated case and a smaller case which he set down next to me.

“This is the packages that arrived for Ms. Stefanos while you were out Madam,” he said and then bowed his head and left.

I eyed the longer case but then picked up the smaller one and set it in my lap. A touch of my finger had the lock disengage and then a hiss as the case opened up. Within was a myriad of items and I laughed as I reached inside and picked up a card, offering it to Jan. “Well at least I have a passport now.”

Jan tilted it wards her and smirked. “Ah yes, Ms. Stevens.” She handed it back.

I dug down into the case and came across another card and then laughed. “And a license to carry weapons… and… apparently a reserve officer for the Alliance Marines.” There were some credit chits, more than enough to see me comfortable for some time. The license to carry weapons meant the other case was carrying weapons.

I put the smaller case down and reached for the longer one, it opened at my touch with a hiss and the comfortable smell well-oiled weapons gave off. The lid slowly opened to reveal a beauty of a sniper rifle. It was gray with fins at the end and a scope on top. The handle and trigger were black along with part of the stock and Jan gasped as she leaned forwards to see the weapon.

“That tells me more than I care to know,” she said with surprise and I glanced up.

“Why?” My fingers ran over the dark barrel of the rifle.

“That is a Titan, i think. Doesn't quite look like the regular ones. Most humans risk a possible broken shoulder firing that thing,” she explained to me and eyed me with interest.

I shrugged. “Not something I am going to carry around often.” I smiled then and pulled out the pistol, holding it up. “But this, this I can carry around easily enough. There’s also a sub-machine gun.” The Karpov pistol was flat, non-reflective black instead of the normal blue. I put it back in the case and my fingers touched fabric. I tugged that out a bit to find it an undersuit which meant there was armor in the other case.

“Well this gives me more information than I expected honestly,” I said and closed the weapons case. “Apparently at some point I did shadow work.” I lifted my hands up and my fingertips touched together as I rested my chin on the bar my thumbs made.

Jan snorted. “For them. I know a little of them but most of it has gone… silent.” She frowned a bit and eyed me. “Makes me wonder.”

“I can assume a few things from what’s in these cases. One, I am no part of their company anymore and two; I am still part of the Alliance Marines. The reservist designation says I might be an instructor when needed. The reason for that I can’t say but I can also assume it wasn’t a nice parting,” I pointed out.

Jan snorted. “Yea, the kind that leaves puddles of blood and bodies parting.”

I laughed and nodded. “I can’t say for sure why, but if that is true, there’s a good reason for it.”

Jan gave me a worried look a moment. “Yes,” she said slowly. “That worries me most of all. This means something is dirty with that… agency. Why does the Alliance let them run around it’s beyond me.” She shrugged. “But so far you can take care of yourself without help so since you have the proper paperwork, I think we can fast track your immigration easily enough.” She reached out, pressed a few buttons on the haptic interface and then smiled. “There, that is sent to the proper people now.” There was a knock at the door which stopped her from speaking more. “Come in,” Jan said.

The door opened and let through the clerk again but this time followed by a hesitant Liara. “Madam, a Liara T’Soni is here for Ms. Stefanos.”

I closed the small case and pointed to the chair after setting the case down to the left of my chair. “Take a seat Liara, we are apparently almost done here.” I moved the longer case with my boot off to the side.

“Good. I was hoping so. Have you tak- excuse me I can see you have gotten all you needed apparently.” She eased herself down into the chair and bowed her head slightly to Jan.

“Liara T’Soni, on the behalf of the Alliance, we extend a thank you to your care for our citizen,” Jan said officially and then smiled brightly. “Now, with that taken care of… Jerr could you bring in some drinks for us please?” The clerk nodded and backed out.

“Please, it was nothing. Anyone would have done the same for Alex,” Liara said, not quite sure else how to respond.

I laughed. “Don’t worry Liara, it’s just something she officially has to do.”

A look of understanding crossed Liara’s face and she smiled back. “I see.”

We talked for a bit on the issues I would still have and then the tea was brought in. For a few minutes there was silence while we all made our tea to our liking. The sound of cups setting into the plates ended the silence. I was the first to speak.

“Is there anything else you need me to do or can I leave with Liara?” I took a sip of tea and watched Jan over the rim of the cup.

“Hmm, at this point, no. The immigration process is automated and it might arrive before you actually get to where ever you are staying.” Jan set her cup down and clasped her hands. “You are more than welcome to leave now. We can get a driver to bring you both back…?”

I nodded and reached out to silence Liara before she said something. Her mouth was open when I looked moments later and I smirked. “It’s not a problem. Thank you Diplomat Moller.” I stood up and then motioned for Liara to do the same. “You will have to tell the driver how to get back to your place Liara.” Then I picked up both cases after slinging the backpack over one shoulder.

Jan rose up and reached across her desk to shake which I did. “Not a problem. The embassy will be in touch.” Then she sat back down and picked up her tea. “Now if you two would excuse me, I have work to do.” That was a dismissal if I ever heard one and we made our way out.

The clerk, Jerr, met us in the hall and we followed him back to the garage where another solider waited by one of the aircars. He saluted me and then opened the door for us. I stowed the cases in the car and then slipped in. Liara followed.

The driver got in and turned back to us. “Where too?”

Liara gave him the address and he started the aircar up. It took a bit of time to get there so we had time to talk. At first I wanted to watch the city but eventually, at Liara’s insistence I turned to speak to her.

“What happened?” She could tell that something was not right.

I sighed. “Well let’s just say that I learned more than expected about my past but there wasn’t much detail.”

“Oh.” She studied me a moment. “I can tell it wasn’t exactly good what you did learn.”

I nodded. “Yea, it’s not something I care to talk about and might be safer if you didn’t know.”

She frowned but a look of understanding crossed her face. “Ok,” was her quiet reply.

“I have weapons, id cards and armor in those cases,” I finally said as explanation. “They arrived while I was shopping with the diplomat at the embassy. I haven’t looked closely at the cases yet but someone sent them here.”

Liara was silent for a while after that and when I glanced at her I could see she was thinking deeply. I let her. Maybe she could figure out why.  I could see a sprawling complex coming up and the driver was slowing down even as he dropped altitude. I nudged Liara and nodded out the window and she glanced up and nodded quickly.

“We are here ma’am,” the driver said as he shut down the aircar.

“Thank you Corporal,” I said and gathered up my stuff. He opened the door for me and I slid out to wait for Liara.

“Yes, thank you Corporal,” Liara added and slipped out of the car. She then turned and headed towards the doorway and I followed her. “This is where I live,” she said as she opened the door and let me in.

I followed her to the lift and we quickly went up to the 12th floor where she exited with me and headed down the hall past 5 other doors. The last one she pressed her hand to the plate and it opened up for her. I entered and glanced around before setting down my cases and the backpack next to the door.

“It’s not much but its home for now,” she said softly.

I snorted. “And tomorrow you and I are going to look for something more roomy,” I said with a smirk. “I got the cred for it now.”

Liara nodded in surprise. “Maybe somewhere closer to where you go to school, hmm?” I added and she gave me a grateful look.

“That… that would be wonderful,” she said finally and smiled at me.

“So, what do you think? Let’s go out and eat? On me,” I teased.


	3. Chapter 3

Good as my word, the next afternoon I dragged Liara along to view some apartments closer to the University. I had to wait for her though because she had been in class all morning. It was fine though. I woke up and felt the need to do something unusual. Maybe my memory was coming back but I found myself doing katas for most of the morning.

My back twinged quite a few times during the time I basically centered myself. I got the feeling that there was nothing I could really do about it. There was just something relaxing about the movements and things came back to me, names for each kata. I regretted I didn’t have a sword because some of them were designed for just that. I knew it but I couldn’t explain why I knew it.

I stepped out mid-morning to hit the café just across the street from the apartment building. The server brought me a coffee and I picked up a tablet with the local news. It had a story about the shot fired but the assailant was never found. I snorted at that and took a sip of the coffee as I continued to read. By the time I was done with my coffee and the overly sweet pastry, it was almost noon anyways.

I left the tablet on the table and a tip then walked out of the café and headed back up to the apartment. There I pulled out the pistol and took it apart, cleaned it then put it back together again. There was nowhere I could put it that wouldn’t be visible so I dragged over the smaller case that I brought with me.

It opened for me and I carefully pulled out all the cards and chits, setting them down off to the side. There was a folder I hadn’t noticed the day before. I took that out and opened it up. A single sheet of paper, by honest to god paper, fell out. I picked it up and furrowed my brows at it as I read it.

_‘If you are reading this then it is possible that the person known as Alex Stefanos is alive. If this is not her, what is in the weapon cases should go to Alliance R &D to study. The credits should be donated to the Winthorp Foundation and the rest should be sent back to Earth: Greece to her father Akakios Sefanos. If Alex is reading this then I thank the Gods that I survived the encounter. There is not a lot to say. _

_I joined ******** at the age of 26. At first the training was like any other military. I quickly gained rank in the agency as a highly skilled solider. I was sent to ******* ****** and underwent gene therapy to make me an even better solider. What I learned of that time was that I healed faster, was stronger. My body could take more punishment than any man or woman should be able to. There is a lot I do not know about during the time only because it is blank to me. That is what worries me._

_I dug into things and then I was assigned to a mission. Maybe it was because I dug into things that I was assigned. There was a warlord, a turrian that needed to be taken down because he was about to repeat the actions of the First Contact War on a frontier world. This was a lie and I almost killed a good man. If not for ******** I would have been killed._

_At this point I made the connection between what I had dug up and what had almost happened and it was not a good thought. They wanted to enact an event that would have kept the Human race from truly joining the galactic community. With ********’s help I defected with all the data I had collected, joined the Alliance Marines as a cover story with a rank of Lt. Commander and was assigned as an instructor for the N7 program._

Before I could travel to Rio I was requested to do a mission. If you are reading this then that mission either was a failure or a triumph. If you go to this extranet site 2343.8347-992201_7734, post a message with this phrase: Numb3rs. Then erase the address and burn this paper. Godspeed.’

Well that was interesting. It gave a little more info but not enough to satisfy me really. I tore the sheet up into pieces then set them alight in the sink. Once they were burned I washed the ash down the drain. The folder was put aside and I dug more into the case after, finding a shoulder harness that pleased me. I put it on and stowed the Karpov under my right arm for easy draw then made sure it couldn’t be seen with my jacket on. It was perfect. The jacket was just baggy enough that it hid the pistol.

The last thing in the case was a lid that when I opened it I found the armor. It was a dark mottled grey pattern that I knew was made to walk in the shadows with. I laughed when I noticed the darkened outline of the N7 that if you hadn’t been looking closely at it, you would miss it for the rest of the camo. There was a dark, non-reflective nameplate too and it had the world Schattenjager on it. My mind supplied the translation of the German easily enough. Shadowhunter. It was apt.

At that point I pulled up my omni tool, loaded a program and went to the address given. I posted the phrase and then shut down my omni tool. It beeped at me moments later and I glanced at the message that only said “mazel tov”. Good luck. I shook my head at that and lowered my arm briefly before realizing I should search for suitable locations around the university for me and Liara.

It only took me 10 minutes to narrow down the search to two locations. One location was on the south side of the campus and one on the south east side. I would ask Liara when she returned from class. I saved those two searches and then put everything back into the case. That I put off to the side and opened up the weapons case with the Titan, named Widow, and Punisher.

I first took apart the Punisher and cleaned it then put it back in its resting place. The Titan I took out reverently and set it down. I couldn’t stop touching it. To me this was a perfect weapon though the grey camo matte needed to be changed. I was thinking more along the lines of flat black. That I could fix in the future.

I slowly took it apart and could tell it had some use behind it. It had a mod for warp rounds currently on it and I smiled. I needed to acquire armor piercing rounds for the future, I figured. Never know when you’ll have to punch through metal.

After reassembling the sniper rifle I put it away and tucked the case against the wall out of the way. Checking the time, I figured Liara should be back soon. I was right, she came in within a half hour of me figuring that out. I stood up and grinned at her.

“Let me put my things away Alex. You seem eager,” she said after giving me a look.

Yea I was eager. “You bet,” I chirped.

Knowing how ready I was, she dumped her books on her bed and returned. “I assume you already have a few choices to look at, yes?”

Chuckling, I sent over the saved searches for her and she looked at them. “Hmm, this one is closer to the building I take classes in.” She pointed out the south east apartment.

We both looked at the one that Liara pointed out. I glanced up at her. “Shouldn’t we go look at it?”

Liara looked up a moment and smiled slightly before pressing a button on her omni tool and a 3D view of the apartment showed up. She touched it and spun it. “There is no need to be there. We can view it through this.”

Curiously I moved closer and touched it. It narrowed on the room I poked at and then I shrugged. “Well you tell me. You know better than I do about the price and what is there.”

Liara nodded and gave a thoughtful look to the room then zoomed out and pondered the apartment. “I think it might just be on the side of expensive but worth it for the location near the Archeology class buildings.”

I nodded and sat down, arching a brow at her. “Well I have more than enough to rent the apartment for a year. So I can split the rent.” I glanced over at the cases a moment then turned back to see Liara giving me a curious look now.

“I assume whatever is in that case is the reason why you can split the bills?” She finally spoke after giving it a little thought. She opened her mouth to ask something else and then shut it and shook her head.

I gave a nod and then pursed my lips at her refusal to speak. If she wanted to talk she would but I wouldn’t push her. “Well, is that a yes or no?” I gave her a smirk a moment.

“It is acceptable to me,” she answered. She pushed a few buttons on her omni tool and it beeped before going silent. “I’ve put an offer in.” The tool beeped again and she glanced down before a surprised look crossed her face. “It seems our offer was accepted.” She chewed her lip briefly at that.

“Well you might as well start packing up your stuff then. I can help since all I have is 2 cases and a backpack.” I rested my arm over the back of the couch as she turned away.

“Tomorrow will be just fine. I’ll start tonight and then when I get back from classes tomorrow we can move over. If you would excuse me, I am going to go study a bit.” She walked into her room and closed the door.

I let Liara know I was going out then went in search of a weapons store. After walking a bit I looked up the closest one on the omni tool then grunted and called an airtaxi. It was a bit of a walk a ways and the aircar would be faster. The aircar dropped me off right in front of Armax Arsenal’s store. I slid the credit chit and then walked into the building, glancing around. There was a turrian standing in the back with a datapad and an Asari putting things up on a shelf. Looked like a few pistols.

The turrian turned around and eyed me a moment before setting the datapad down on the counter and walking over to me. He looked me up and down a moment then his mandibles widen a bit. I got the impression he was trying to smile at me so I gave him one, minus the baring of the teeth, back.

“Welcome to Armax Arsenal,” his dual toned voice rasped out. “I am Yelthan, can I show you our latest stock or is there something you were looking for pass that?”

I listened to him a moment to get the dual tone quality and understand what he was saying. “I am actually looking for some weapons mods for a sniper rifle, a sub-machine gun and pistol.”

The turrian paused a moment then gave a grating laugh. “Ah, from one solider to another…,” he trailed off and glanced over at the Asari.

She stopped what she was doing, closed the box and then turned and smiled. “Go ahead Yel, I will take care of the front.” She apparently knew him well enough to know what was going to happen.

I just arched a brow at that as Yelthan motioned me to follow him. He opened a door behind the counter and walked through, closing it after me. “Which sniper rifle?”

“A Titan class hybrid,” I answered and saw the look of disbelief.

“Ah, we don’t see that at all around here. Normal they tend to show only when non-humans need killing,” he mentioned and then walked over to a bench. With the press of a button the wall to our left moved, a few parts folding down into shelves and showing what they housed.

“As far as I know, I’ve never killed a non-human with it,” I said honestly. I really have no clue but for me, I can say I would never kill an innocent or non-human for that matter.

Yelthan shrugged and moved over, picking up a few different upgrades. “This is what I have for weapons at the moment but there are a few that I know of where you can go to get them if that is what you are looking for. I’d suggest a kinetic stabilizer or better for that Titan along with a rail extension. I know someone selling the scram rail upgrade if that’s what you want. And if you haven’t upgraded the sighting on it, you might want to do so. Ammo mods, you might want explosive to go with the rail but you will want a holdout like Tungsten though if you want to do some extreme immediately, I can give you the name of a supplier that sells Talon ammo.”

I gave him a surprised glance at the mention of the Talon ammo. Nasty stuff, on impact it breaks apart and shreds. I gave him a slow smile. “I might take you up on that offer. Never know when you need to put some sick bastard down for good.”

The turrian laughed. “Very true. While its frowned upon, sometimes you don’t want them to come back from a shot at all. I will give you the info for the rail and ammo after we are done here.”

“Ok. I’ll take the kinetic stabilizer, the improved sighting…. Do you have a heat sink or frictionless materials upgrade?” I wasn’t sure if he had either of them and he dug around and finally held up a heat sink.

“This is the best around,” he said and handed it to me.

“Hmm, I’ll need armor piercing upgrade for the sniper, I think I’ll save the shredders for the Karpov. Combat Optics too. A couple of the heat sinks. That’s about it.” I said thoughtfully.

“Alright, let’s get this boxed up for you.” He picked up the upgrades I asked for and then I followed him back out the front where he took a box and put each upgrade in.

I gave him the credit chit I brought with me to pay for the upgrades and he swiped it then handed it back. “Thank you,” I said.

“Here,” he said and typed something out then motioned at me. My omni tool beeped and I glanced at it. “If you go there and tell them I sent you, you should be able to get some of the better things that most retailers are not supposed to sell.”

I nodded. “Thanks for that.”

“For a human, you are pretty laid back. Most would see me and think bad ass military,” he teased and I grinned at him.

“Yes but we still held you off and pushed you off Shanxi,” I teased and he laughed.

“Yup, tenacious is the key trait your race has. Have a good day.” He turned away then and picked up the datapad to go back to what he was doing when I walked in.

I nodded to the Asari with a smile and then tucked the box under my arm and walked out.

When I got back I tucked the upgrades away in the smaller case and then went to find something to eat. Of course I figured out quickly that there was not much there and ordered something to be delivered. When I found there was a restaurant that made Greek food I had to try it. So I ordered a gyros and baklava to be delivered. I figured that Laria would show herself once she smelled the food.

This proved to be true when the food was delivered an hour later. I had just set the packages down on the table and she came out with her brows furrowed from the unusual but savory smell. Laughing at her confused expression I motioned for her to sit as I opened the cartons and slipped one over to her seat.

“Try it. It’s somewhat traditional food from where I am from on Earth. I was rather surprised there was a Grecian restaurant here already. These are gyros, pita filled with meats and vegetables. I assume local and olive oil. And this,” I opened the container with the wedges of baklava, “Is desert. It’s called baklava. Made with honey, nuts and a very thin pastry.”

“This is new,” she said hesitantly then sat down.

Liara seemed overwhelmed with the meal and I said nothing, instead I started to eat. While it was not the same from home, they had tried and it had an unusual flavor with the local aquatic life used instead of fish. Still it had a savory flavor and I enjoyed it. Liara took a cautious bite and chewed though after a moment she dug in with gusto.

“This is wonderful. Your Grecian foods… I think I want to try them all,” she said with one of those bright smiles.

“Maybe some time I will drag you back home with me and we can go to this little mezedopoleía that I know of that serves the best souvlaki and meze,” I said, the foreign words making Liara pause to study me.

“I think I would like that,” she said slowly. Neither of us was sure we’d get that chance though.

A week later the two of us were settled into the new apartment. I had to go buy a bed but it was delivered quickly so there was no hurry for me though I did have to go shop for more clothing so I blended in more with the locals. Something in Asari style made for humans. They tended to wear more robe like clothing and that was not something I would do.

Since my days were filled with nothing I decided to find a job that was part time.  No one wanted to hire a human though. It wasn’t till a week after I started looking that I found a job at a bar of all places. Asari are natural biotics, they live and breathe the stuff in. After a long day of searching and not finding a job I stopped at the bar near the apartment. I settled down in the corner and the bartender came over and took my drink order.

Since there was no one in there she hung around due to her own curiosity as to why a human was living here. I told her how I had amnesia and had no clue of my past and how Liara found and helped me. Then unasked, I told her I was unsuccessful at finding a part time job. A group came in at that point and she left me to tend to them and I sat and drank my beer in silence.

The group was a rowdy one and I assumed since it was near the university that maybe they were the typical college teens having a good time. That was about as wrong as anyone could get, especially when three of the group headed over my way. I shifted and stretched out in my seat, taking a unconcerned sip of my beer as they approached. One of them strutted like she owned the place and she had these blue markings on her face and chin like a turrian would have.

“So, what’s a pinky like you doing unwanted here?” That was the strutter speaking with the smooth voice of an almost matron.

I gave her a noncommittal glance and took another sip of my drink before setting it down. “I was enjoying my peace and quiet if you must know.”

“Your kind is unwanted here,” she said and was about to backhand my beer off the table but I picked it up and she missed entirely. Her companions laughed.

Well fuck. This was not going to end very well. “Hmm, well I was minding my own business as a paying customer,” I answered and tipped the bottle towards her before taking a swallow, finishing it. “You on the other hand look ready to fight, yes?”

The two laughed at the third. “Selah, she’s got you there,” one of them said.

“I know that you idiot,” Selah snarled and turned back to me.

I stood up and set the bottle back down on the table. “It appears your mother didn’t teach you manners at all. Then again, I don’t expect Asari to learn them till they are close to 300 years old at least.”

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say because as her companions sniggered at my words, her hand lit up with that blue glow. And the next thing either of us knew was I had moved, grabbing her arm and hitting a pressure point at her elbow that made her yelp in pain. Then I turned, manipulating her arm in an angle that had her face pressed to the table.

“Now I would appreciate if you and your friends would go drink… not near me and leave me alone,” I said softly in her ear. She didn’t even struggle, too stunned from my ‘attack’ to do anything at all. I released her and she stood up, glaring at me as she rubbed her numb arm. “In about an hour the feeling should return,” I offered and picked up my beer, heading over to the bar to get another.

One of the others from the group waved at the bartender, pointed to me then herself as the three rejoined their group. The bartender had another fresh beer waiting for me as I set the empty down. “Well you know how to handle yourself,” the tender said. “This one is on Morlena. You impressed her at least.”

I nodded. “Tell her thank you then.” I picked up the beer and headed back over to my seat.

The bartender headed over with a tray of drinks and said something to Morlena, motioning towards me a moment then heading back to the bar. I sat there and stared at the window for a bit, taking a sip of my beer till someone coming up to me brought my attention back to the bar.

“You handle yourself well. I assume you are ex-military because only a hand to hand specialist could have done what you did to my sister.” Morlena sat down across from me with a smile. “This is my bar actually and Hinema told me you are looking for a job. I have an offer for you if you would like to hear it.”

I studied her a moment but I could feel no malice so I shrugged. “Well I won’t say I am not interested but I don’t dance or serve,” I said with a smirk.

Morlena laughed. “I like you. Just enough attitude and sarcasm. No, the job isn’t to dance or serve drinks. Your talent would be wasted on that. What I do need is a bouncer. The Sisters took my last one and I figure they will not even think of you as Eclipse material.”

I nodded slowly as I finished my beer. “So what would I be doing then?” Considering that the bar was sort of dead to the world except for her group and me and the bartender.

“Things pick up at night. We have bands and shows at night, entertain and close in the early morning. I need someone to help break up fights that happen and to watch the door when we need someone to do that. What do you think?”

I pondered her offer. It would give me a job, true, but it also was an overnight one. I pursed my lips a moment. “Well, I won’t say no to that actually. When would I start?”

Morlena smiled as she rose from her seat. “In two days. That’s when Erribos plays. I will need someone at the door to take cover charges. You get part of the nights take and free drinks. Though I would suggest non-alcoholic ones while you are working. And we will feed you. By the way, what should I call you?”

I smirked. “Alex. Alex Stefanos,” and I offered her my hand which she shook.

“Then I will see you in two days Alex. Come about 1800 and well get you settled in.” Morlena said.

“Oh, I will let you know that I carry a pistol at all times,” I said, not willing to part with the Karpov.

She paused a moment then laughed. “Of course, I wouldn’t ask my bouncers to rely on just their hand to hand skills.” Then she was gone, taking her time to reach her group and I blew a breath out with a whoosh.

It wasn’t something I had expected but I would take it. It was a job and it would keep me from being bored. I got up and brought the empty bottle over the counter and Hinema took it with a smile. “I guess I will see you in a few days,” I said hesitantly.

“Oh you will. Welcome to the Blue Land. I look forwards to working with you. Come see me when you get here. The bar will be closed down for an hour while we get things set up for Erribos. It will give me a chance to tell you what will happen. I tend and manage things here for Morlena.” She smiled at me again and waved after I nodded.


	4. Chapter 4

For the next few weeks Alex’s schedule was to go in to the Blue Land 3 times a week when an entertainment venue was going on. She arrived, helped Hinema set up the bar and stock drinks then she stood at the door, only letting those in that paid when the bar reopened for the bands. Slowly the rest of the staff there got to know Alex.

There was Gela, an Asari, who kept the books for Morlena. She was just as shy as Liara and Alex knew how to handle that. Incidentally it didn’t take long for the two to be friends. Selah tended to try and make trouble for Alex but Morlena knew better and knew her sister’s temperament enough to ignore it. There was a few times when she actually reprimanded Selah. Alex decided the best thing was to ignore the Asari. Selah was the type that would enjoy joining the Eclipse Sisters, she was certain.

Liara on the other hand, she hunkered down after the move and put her effort into the classes she was taking. It was no surprised after the semester that she got full credits. Alex dragged her out to the Blue Land after that to celebrate. Liara didn’t drink anything truly alcoholic but it got her out of the apartment and somewhere else for a change.

Eventually things ramped up at the Blue Land. Morlena booked a big name and she decided that Alex was now her head of security. To say the least, Alex was surprised at it but took it in stride and did her best to hire more help to watch the bar, the floor and stage. That meant adding at least 3 to 5 more bouncers.

The first one to respond to the help wanted was a Turian named Narzun Ventiso. He had an acidic wit and a sharp tongue, almost prone to making trouble as to solving it. Alex liked him right away and decided to give him a test run on one of the busier nights. He proved his worth, breaking up a fight between a Asari and human male that was getting out of hand and into more than just fists and tongues.

The next to get Alex’s notice was a quiet Salarian named Bour Taddic, a friend of Kirrahe. That was another surprise for Alex, Kirrahe made a attempt to show up at the Blue Land often when she was there and she got the impression it was because of her efforts to befriend him and accept him. That impression lead to her to realize that as a Salarian living on an Asari world  it was hard being a minority. Either way Bour was quick to react and had a plethora of gadgets to help him including a few stun weapons that wreaked havoc on any race he brought them into focus on. Alex figured he was best left for the bar area.

After a few wannabe bouncers, a few dozen at least, Alex was almost fed up with the idiots. The latest one had started a fight with the customers over a drink of all things. She tossed that one out much to her own satisfaction. Right at the feet of her next hire. Henry Tsar was a merc dumped by his old merc group here and looking for a job to get him back off world. Alex took him in right away and learned he was a biotic which was perfect. He could switch from the stage to dance floor easily enough and handle himself in a place where most of the population was biotic.

The last one she found was a younger Krogan warrior named Kraz. He had fought his way through a small company of Suns and walked away from them in the city where they had set up a legal store front. If anything, Kraz loved a good fight and proceeded to prove his worth when a brawl started in the bar area one night. The two who had decided rolling around with broken glass a good thing found themselves out the door and on their asses in front of a crowd still waiting to get in and a Krogan dusting his hands off.

So now Alex felt comfortable with the small team she had acquired for the bar. It meant more work for her but also she didn’t have to stand in one spot since she was the bouncer’s boss. Morlena was happy to pay the wages if it meant less of her business was broken by idiots. It also meant that she was more often at the Blue Land since business had expanded in the last 6 months due to not only the bouncers but also the entertainment.

The only down side was that Selah was a bouncer too. She rarely listened to Alex though and that got her on the wrong side of some of the patrons. It came to a head eventually and left Selah with a broken jaw and bruised ego because Alex had happened to do her walk around out into the alley and came upon the mixed group of Asari and a Turian. Within two minutes the Asari and Turian were writhing on the ground in pain and Alex was calling the local Hy-Sec while pulling Selah to her feet. The Asari maiden leaned against the wall with her hands clenched.

“Selah, don’t touch your jaw,” Alex admonished gently while brandishing her Korpov at the miscreants. She had just called in Hy-Sec and was waiting.

Selah was quiet a few moments and then looked down. “Gyah,” she said, her voice telling Alex that she was upset and depressed.

Alex just reached out and rested her hand on Selah’s shoulder. “As soon as Hy-Sec gets here you are going to the hospital.” She lifted her arm up and her omni tool flashed gray. “Bour, let Morlena know Selah is going to the hospital but it’s not too urgent. Also get one of the others to tour the place while im gone. Waiting on Hy-Sec for a group of idiots.”

Selah didn’t know what to think of the human woman who had done nothing to her in a sense even after all she had done. It was a rather painful, life lesson to the maiden. And yet here the human had not only helped her but… she just didn’t know what to think.

Eventually Hy-Sec got there with a wagon and hauled off the group to the drunk tank and a record of assault. After that, Alex grabbed Selah’s arm and dragged her to the company aircar and drove her to the nearest hospital. She was waiting in the waiting room when Morlena waltzed in, glanced around and then sauntered over and sat down next to Alex.

“So what happened with my sister?” Morlena was not one to wait.

“I was doing my normal walk through, heading out to the alley and back around to the door when I came upon Selah and this group of Asari hazi. There was a touvlo Turian too,” Alex spat out. Morlena could tell this riled up the human enough that she was speaking a language she normally didn’t speak.

“Ah. I assume somehow my sister angered this group. It would be like her.” Morlena chuckled softly.

“Maybe? Doesn’t matter. Six on one is not a great thing. Anyways, I incap’d them all then helped her. Had to wait for Hy-Sec to get them before bring Selah here. Doc said she should be fine after the bone knitting. Jaw was clean broke.” Alex slouched down in her seat and pursed her lips.

“It’s not your fault. It is her’s but I think also she will learn from this. Pain is a great motivator after all,” Morlena said, her hand rising up and turning over to motion to the room in general.

“No but she is one of my bouncers even if I didn’t pick her and for the most part she’s done her job even if she won’t listen to me,” Alex offered, still not happy about the events.

Morlena glanced over at Alex and then signed softly. “Alexandra, you can only ask for so much and be listened to. My sister still has to grow up. She might be 143 years old but that doesn’t mean she’s matured yet from a maiden. Although… this might change that,” Morlena mused.

Alex was about to respond when the doctor came in, an Asari. “I am Dr. T’hurn. Your friend’s jaw should be ok but she needs to rest and let the healing process complete before using her face to stop a fist again.” Then the doctor noticed Morlena.

“This is Selah’s sister,” Alex supplied and the doctor nodded.

“Ah, yes. Your sister should be fine but I’d give her a few days. I’ve also prescribed some pain medication till the process has finished. She’s very lucky it was a clean break and not jagged, that would have torn things up. She’s ready to take home. Also for now I’ve secured her jaw so she doesn’t move it so the only thing she can do is drink at this point in time. I also suggest coming back in two days to remove the restraint. If you would now excuse me, I have other patients to see.” T’hurn bowed her head and turned away.

Morlena chuckled. “I’ll take my sister home in my car. With the way the Blue Land is doing I can certainly get a car for your use, personal or professional. That I will take care of tomorrow. We don’t have another venue for the next few days so I suggest you take a break.”

Alex arched a brow up. A car and a break? “Ok,” she said and rose up from her seat. “I suppose I can give Selah the easy job of door watching for a week.”

Morlena laughed. “Yes a boring job, maybe she’ll realize that it is as much a punishment as a break from the normal situation.”

Alex just gave a wry smile. “I’ll bring the car back in the afternoon when I’ve gotten up.” She yawned, hiding it behind her hand. “But I think I will call it a night. See you tomorrow ‘Lena,” she teased.

“I look forwards to it,” Morlena said with a smile. “Good evening.”

Alex nodded and walked out of the building. Morlena would take care of her sister. She got into the aircar and headed back to the apartment she shared with Laria. As late as it was, she wasn’t surprised that it was dark and Laria was asleep. She quietly made her way to her room, undressed and tucked her pistol under her pillow before collapsing into bed.

 

* * *

 

It wasn’t till after the new year that things changed again. It honestly surprised Alex just how much more easier it got with Selah after the incident in the alley. While the maiden was still cock sure, she also deferred to Alex more than she used to. Alex didn’t bring it up because she was certain the Asari would go back to being that grumpy bitch that she was before. Why rub her nose in it?

Also after the first of the year Morlena decided to expand the Blue Land into another location halfway across the city. That meant that Alex was busier than before. She oversaw the hiring of 6 other bouncers to take shifts for the other location also. And while Selah wanted to run the bouncers over at the other location she decided that Narzun was a better choice. He was cool under fire and the simple fact was, Selah needed to know more before she actually did start managing. That and the Asari maiden still didn’t have a clue how to really fight. The alley incident was a prime example of that.

It all came to head when once again Alex denied Selah the opportunity and she lashed out, fist glowing with biotic potential. Alex once again redirected the fist and arm in an outward direction before spinning the Asari around and twisting her arm behind her back just hard enough to cause pain.

“Really? You want to do something when you don’t have a clue how to fight?” Alex hissed in Selah’s ear.

“Get off me,’ Selah growled, fighting to push Alex off.

Alex swept her feet out from under her and had her face down on the floor with her weight over her lower back with a carefully placed knee. “Gamiasme tora,” she muttered, cursing. Then she put more weight on Selah’s back. “Feel that hazi? That pressure only needs a little more to break your back. Twist your arm a little more and just bare down and there goes your spine. This is why your ass got beat out in that alley, because you can’t take care of your fucking self. I won’t tell your sister you got yourself killed because you were too damn cock sure you could fight when you couldn’t even fight me!”

Alex snarled and jerked as she jumped up and glared down at Selah. The Asari rolled over and blanched at the furious look the human woman had on her face. Her head dropped down and her shoulder slumped. Alex was right, she had been easily bested by Alex twice now and that group. It left her with a broken jaw while Alex only gave her a little pain.

Selah sat up and sighed after a minute. “Your right,” she said softly as Alex gave her an incredulous look. She looked up to see Alex doing that and sighed again. “You are right. I know biotics but that hasn’t helped me at all. I got my ass handed to me twice by you, someone that has no biotics at all. I can only imagine how I would go up against a commando. I’d probably get killed quickly. I won’t go to those Eclipse mercs. I… they scare me.” She wrung her hands, not sure what to do.

Alex stared at the Asari a moment, blinking a few times. She had expected Selah to be angry and instead the maiden used more logic in the last 5 minutes than the first 6 months Alex had known her. She pondered that and then reached down. “Here,” she said and helped Selah up. “Do you really want to learn how to take care of yourself and defend yourself when you need to? I won’t teach anyone that will take those skills I’ve taught and go out there looking for a fight.”

Selah grimaced a little as Alex pulled her to her feet. She still had a hold of Alex’s hand when the woman spoke again. And blinked a few times at that, not sure how to take it. “Yes I would like to know how to defend myself. I can’t say I will go looking for a fight because every time I have, I’ve taken on more than I can.”

Alex released Selah’s hand and pondered the puzzle of the Asari before her. “Hmph. That is one thing you have right.” She sighed heavily and eyed Selah. “As much as I regret this, we will meet twice a week and I will start to train you. You won’t like it Selah but it will one day save your life. I will be hard on you but I will be fair to you also.”

Selah studied Alex a moment, considering the offer then bowed her head slightly. “I think I can take that considering you’ve accepted me during the time you’ve been employed by my sister. When should we meet?”

Alex gave a faint smile, praised indeed. “My days off, for about 3 hours a day. Wear clothing you can work out in. I need to figure out where you are fitness wise before we go further.”

Selah nodded and gave Alex the first genuine smile she had ever given to the human. “Then I will meet you at your apartment?”

“Yup. We’ll go for a jog first. Come about Oh six-hundred hours,” Alex said with a smirk.

Selah winced a little and then straightened up. “Ok.”

Alex was rather surprised and she told ‘Lena later how her sister had just accepted everything without an argument. ‘Lena laughed and agreed that maybe her sister was finally maturing. She also argued and won against Alex for paying the human credits for training her sister.

“No Alex. She is my only sister and you are a jewel of an employee. I will not take advantage of your good nature with training my sister. You will get an extra 200 credits a week to pay for that,” ‘Lena said and put her foot down.

Alex sighed. “Alright Morlena. I really didn’t need it because she’s made half the effort to try… but I can see arguing with you will not change your mind.”

Morlena smirked. “You are right, my human friend. I always win,” she teased and grinned.

That set off Alex to laugh and she pointed at the Asari Matron. “Was your father a volus?”

Morlena’s smile widened. “How did you know?”

Alex snorted. “The always winning a argument thing.” She practically giggled at that a moment.

Morlena could see Alex was amused by that revelation. “And honestly Sel’s father was a Krogan if you didn’t notice.”

That set off Alex even more and she was laughing hard enough for tears to roll. “I think I figured that out the first time we met,” she said after she got herself under control.

 

The first week was an eye opener for Selah. Alex had the Asari run with her around the University’s campus. Selah found out just how fit the human was when she had to stop about a quarter of the way around to puke out her breakfast. Alex handed her a bottle with electrolytes and water which she took a grateful drink from after washing her mouth out.

“Eat after you run Selah. This is the first lesson. Come on.” Alex wasn’t even sweating yet and she looked like she had just taken an easy stroll.

Selah just nodded while catching her breath and then followed after Alex. Alex explained to her about setting a pace and about moving freely to help the body withstand the stress of running. The next time Selah met Alex, she felt as if she at least did better, stopping half way around first. The Asari was a quick learner which Alex appreciated and the fact Selah didn’t complain said a lot to Alex.

Of course normal for Alex was not normal for every human living on an Asari world. She had forgotten about the attempt on her life and that came back to bite her on the ass rather hard. Since Jan Moller hadn’t contacted her about the attempt she had all but forgotten it. That and running the bouncers for the Blue Land and her sister venue Blue Isle.

Her bouncers were almost a small merc company to begin and the fact that most were ex-mercs didn’t really help. Alex was careful who she hired and of those she hired, she made sure that either they knew what to do and could take care of themselves or they were smart enough to know they needed to learn. That eventually got most of the bouncers joining Alex on her morning runs.

If any Asari were out at 6am they were treated to a large mixed group all running around the University. Some of the earlier students took notice easily, curious about the group and others pointed out from repeat visits to the Blue Land where they were from. It was very unusual to see the cohesion that Alex’s bouncers had with her and each other.

A few times they were stopped by Hy-Sec but after the third time Morlena came down on Hy-Sec for that by threatening to bring this up to the Matron’s Council. They were harassing her employees and she was offended by the laziness of Hy-Sec. It didn’t help that at one point or another each and every one of the bouncers had cause Hy-Sec’s attention by doing something wrong but the fact remained, the group was only running and doing no harm. In fact because they were there, the campus remained safer than your average back alley.

This fact became hugely apparent the one time some random wannabe Eclipse Sister tried to shake down a Salarian student for credits. She happened to do this right before Alex and her group passed and the Asari found herself on the ground, her head spinning and her arms restrained while Hy-Sec was called. The worst part was Kirrahe was startled by the robbery more than anything.

“You, yes. Thank you Alex. Strange that Asari go to mugging students who are known to not have credits on them.” His voice rapidly fired out and he shook his head. “Thank you all. See you tomorrow when Corruption plays, yes?”

Alex laughed. “Yup. Come early and I’ll get you a spot near the bar Kirr.”

He nodded. “Of course. You find the best spots for me all the time. Asari ‘tender never lets my drink go dry.”

“Well, I think she likes you Kirr. She never pays that much attention to any of us wrecks,” Alex said and waved to the group moving around and keeping warm. Except for Narzun and Henry. Both were watching the would-be mugger.

“See you Alex. Thank you again,” Kirrahe said and walked off.

Alex shook her head and then frowned at the Asari before looking up to find the Hy-Sec patrol car touching down. “About damn time,” she muttered and stalked over with fury in her face.

The Hy-Sec officer who slipped out of the aircar’s passenger seat held her hand up. “Alex, I know. I didn’t find out till 5 minutes ago,” the officer said with a scowl of her own.

“Damn it Trineh, it’s not like we have cried wolf about this,” Alex responded with and Trineh snorted in amusement.

“I have never known you to ‘cry wolf’ as it were. Believe me, some of Hy-Sec are going to be on bathroom duty for this and a few might be in need of a new job. I wouldn’t suggest hiring them,” she added after giving it a brief thought.

“Oh hell no, lazy idiots. They would quit before a week,” Alex said with a frown and then jerked her head at Nar and Henry. “Padok Kirrahe was almost mugged by this idiot. He’s a student in the Genetics labs here. A friend too so that makes her a double idiot but who’s counting?” Alex shrugged at that.

“Hmm, well we can get the vid from around this place so that should be all. I’ll take her.” Trineh pointed to the Asari and the officer that drove her there suddenly moved and took the mugger into custody, stuffing her into the back seat after putting biotic suppression cuffs on the Asari.

Alex nodded. “Well we have to go finish our run. You know where to find me if you need answers.”

“That I do. Have a good run,” Trineh said wryly and then walked back to the aircar, sliding into the seat.

The group turned as the aircar lifted off and started back down the road. They were passing the main buildings and waving to the early students when an aircar flew over their heads and continued down the same way they were going. The others had started to slow down to a job while Alex and Kraz continued to go at the same ground eating pace. They were yards ahead of the rest when they took the turn to head on the backside of the campus where some of the storage buildings where.

By the time the rest of the group had turned the corner Kraz and Alex were further ahead. Both ran side by side and talked, Kraz giving Alex a hard push and then sprinting ahead. Alex laughed out loud and put on a burst of speed to catch up to Kraz. About the time she caught up to him a loud pop was heard by everyone and both Alex and Kraz stumbled. The rest of the group was confused till Alex pulled out her Karpov, aiming it with her left arm while Kraz was down on one knee.

The group got close enough to see the orange blood on the ground and the red stain spreading on Alex’s shoulder before they realized what happened. And then it was like an angry hive of bees as the rest took out their pistols and aimed them in the same direction as Alex did. The sound of an aircar lifting off was all they heard in response.


	5. Chapter 5

Taddic rushed over to her after grabbing Henry’s arm and ripping the sleeve off. He folded it and pressed it to the wound on Alex’s shoulder, not worried about Kraz at all. Narzun and Henry rushed off into the tree line to find out where the shooter was. The sound of a Hy-Sec patrol heading their way didn’t change the fact that Taddic contacted them to give more info. Moments later Narzun and Henry were back with scowls.

“When I find whoever did that I will rip their quads off and feed them to them,” Kraz growled, more put out that he had been shot than that he was injured.

Alex snorted then grimaced. “Make sure they don’t shave first,” she said with a short laugh then hissed when Taddic pressed harder against the wound. “Damn Tad, I know I’ve been shot but do you have to make sure that I know this?”

“Shave?” Kraz tilted his head slightly.

“Humans are covered in hair. Thicker hair shows on the head and genital regions, arms and legs. Some have literally pelts on their backs. At least the males do,” Alex informed the Krogan.

“Ha! Hairy quads! I like that,” Kraz laughed, easily amused by that bit of information.

“Have to stop the bleeding Alex,” Taddic said quietly.

Alex sighed. “Well you all would have figured this out eventually but,” she forcefully removed Taddic’s hand and the soaked cloth, tugging her shirt down to expose the wound. It was starting to close already.

“Hmm, human displays regenerative capabilities of a Krogan,” Taddic muttered rapidly, already his thought process going into overdrive.

“Really?” Kraz leaned over to see Alex’s shoulder and grunted. “Clean shot,” was all he said though his tone said he was slightly impressed.

“I was part of this black ops group back a few years ago. They were big into gene therapy. I heal faster and that sniper rifle of mine, modified from the original model to have more power and damage. It could shoot through a set of Caine armor at 2 miles. Side effect is it’s got a hell of a kick when fired. Bones were strengthened. Feel like I’m a female version of Wolverine without the claws. Though… claws would be nice to have as a backup.” She shook her head and then smirked at the confused look Taddic gave her.

“Wolverine. Earth mammal known for temper akin to a Krogan blood rage?” Taddic eyed Alex a moment.

“Look up X-Men comics Tad. That will give you an idea,” Alex informed the Salarian.

“Ah. I will do so once we are finished here. I think our run is done for today,” the Salarian said and nodded towards the Hy-Sec officer.

“Damn Alex,” Trineh said as she approached. It wasn’t hard to spot the red human blood, the orange-ish Krogan blood and the drenched shirt Alex wore.

“Yea, I guess it was going to be a double down today for me,” Alex sighed, pressing a hand to her shoulder.

“I can see that.” Trineh looked around a moment then took out her ‘pad. “Ok, I need to know what happened exactly.”

It took about 30 minutes of questioning before Trineh was satisfied. She even followed Narzun and Henry back to where the shooter had been sitting, taking vids of the area. She made sure to take a clear vid of the blood and Alex and Kraz’s wounds then she set her information in and came up with a trajectory based off the spot the shooter was at and the blood. It took her all of 5 minutes to find the bullet lodged into the plastasteel of the nearest building.

By the time the Hy-Sec officer was done Alex was feeling a lot better though she wanted to shower off the blood. Kraz was starting to get impatient and Alex set him and Henry off to finish the run. It helped keep the Krogan from getting into trouble. Taddic and Narzun followed her back to her apartment and she was lucky that Liara was in class because the poor Asari maiden would have freaked out. Alex got that shower and felt a lot better but now she had to toss out her shirt because of the blood and damage.

Once she was cleaned up she drove over to the Blue Land to check the schedule so she could have everything covered. Thankfully she had an office now so she could go in and shut the door. Everyone knew that if the door was closed to not bother her. Unfortunately for her, Morlena sauntered in a minute later and closed the door behind her before gracefully sitting down in the chair across from Alex.

“So Sel told me there was a bit of excitement for you today,” the Asari stated and eyed Alex.

“A bit. Nothing too bad though and everything is fine now,” Alex shrugged a little and furrowed her brow at the schedule.

“Alex, this makes it the second time since you arrived that someone had taken a shot at you. The next time they might hit something more vital than a shoulder,” Morlena said and Alex could tell she was concerned.

For a minute Alex stared thoughtfully at ‘Lena and then sighed and leaned back in her chair. “If this causes you problems I will quit ‘Lena,” she said softly.

“Goddess no,” the Asari exclaimed. “That is not what I meant. Alex, I am just worried about you. I… have researched you but up till now, there’s little information on you beyond the basics.” Morlena was hesitant to tell Alex this because she wasn’t sure how the human would handle it.

“’Lena you know of the N7 program?” Alex pondered just how to get that bit of info across without saying much.

“Yes. Black ops missions. Highly skilled human soldiers…,” and she trailed off as her eyes raised up to Alex’s. “I see. This does explain things. I assume at some point you might have to disappear for a month or two?”

Alex nodded, seeing that ‘Lena understood. “It is possible. I might be recalled to train but I am a specialized trainer who hasn’t gotten a student of that caliber yet. It is possible I might be needed to do some searching but that might be easily explained as a vacation or something like that. Please, I don’t want you to know more than this just because I do not want you to get hurt.” She held her hand up to stall Morlena’s questions.

Morlena gave up and sighed, nodding quietly. “I can understand you wanting to protect me. I can take care of myself. I wasn’t always a bar owner. I did run as a Commando when I was younger. Just let me know if something comes up.” She rose from the chair. “Oh, send over the schedule for the bouncers at both locations when you finish it.”

Alex stood up and smiled at Morlena. “Of course. Once I get the mind numbing job done you can be sure I will.” There was no reason for her to explain more. Morlena could see she was fine and not in pain.

It took Alex two hours to finish the schedule and by that time she was hungry and exited her office. She sat at the bar and got a basket of the Asari version of Fish and Chips. There she ate while watching the few patrons come in, mostly the regulars that came in before any events and left before the crowds came.

When Liara came in and sat down next to Alex, she was more than a bit surprised and arched a brow at the maiden Asari. Then she realized it was later than she figured after glancing around a bit more. Alex turned her head slightly to Liara.

“What brings you here?” She picked up a fry and popped it into her mouth, chewing slowly.

Liara looked around before turning her attention to Alex. “Hmm, I’ve never been here before and wanted to see where you worked.”

Alex studied Liara a moment the chuckled. “Stick around and in about a hour there will be a good band playing. Kirr will be here too. Want something to eat?”

Hinema was hovering near by while Liara thought over the information Alex gave her and then she shrugged. “I guess I cannot hide in my room and study all the time.”

The Asari bartender slide a menu in front of Liara and smiled. “What would you like to drink?”

Liara opened up the slim menu a moment and glanced at the drinks. “Thessian Hiear,” she murmured and read through the food the bar served.

Hinema brought out a glass and then a container and opened it. She poured the pale blue liquid into the glass and then set it in from of Liara before picking up a bottle from the cooler and twisting the cap off and setting it before Alex. “Let me know when you have decided on what to eat.”

Liara nodded slightly, distracted by the choices. Her finger moved from one item to another on the menu while Alex picked up the bottle of beer and took a sip. Finally she closed the slim folder of a menu and looked up only to find Hinema there waiting with a smile. “I think I would like a small salad and the grilled chaln.”

“Ok. I’ll let the chef know,” Hinema turned and punched something in on her omni tool then went down the bar to a customer waiving their glass.

“I wanted to know where you worked Alex. We haven’t seen much of each other lately. Either you are here or out or I am in class,” Liara said and frowned a bit. “And I really do not want to lose what friends I have because of my classes.”

Alex was mid sip when Liara said that and she almost choked on her beer. It took will power to swallow the bitter and then clear her throat. “Liara, I understand that you are really into your classes. Hell I even understand, you silly hazi, that you really are in to the Protheans. I will only ever support you on what you really want to do. That’s what a friend is. Granted if you go out again I am coming with you, no if’s ands or buts about it. Someone has to make sure you make it back.”

Liara didn’t know what to say to Alex and the look on her face showed surprise. Then she turned away and ducked her head down. No one had really ever said something like that to her. No one had ever supported her with no strings attached either. To say the least, it was something very new to Liara.

Alex just reached out and gave Liara’s shoulder a gentle squeeze to let the Asari know that she understood. Then she picked up her beer and took another swallow. Liara was still so shy and Alex got the feeling that her younger years were not all that great for the Asari. It was no wonder she clung to the study of Protheans like it was her lifeline. There was something about the extinct race that made Alex just a tad uneasy. It was like trying to find Atlantis which was something the Grecian woman knew about extensively.

Liara sipped at her drink and didn’t even show her face to Alex because she was embarrassed by the tears that had come when Alex squeezed her shoulder like that. She wrapped her fingers around the glass to keep them from shaking and stared at the bar counter. A few minutes later Hinema set her salad and grilled chaln before Liara before moving to clean up the counter. The barkeep kept herself busy till someone needed something. Whether that was a drink or talk was up to the person.

Mid way through her meal, Liara realized that it was ok that Alex supported her like that. She found it perfectly acceptable that Alex wasn’t upset if Liara studied or actually talked to her. Alex just accepted Liara as she was and for that the Asari maiden was grateful. The fact that Alex would sacrifice time for her said a lot to Liara and she took a gulp of her wine to wash down the grilled fish. That revelation had Liara feeling better about herself.

It just took one person supporting someone to make them feel like they could do anything. Alex was that to Liara and to those people she worked with. Liara understood that already about Alex. The human just had this way about her that drew others in. It didn’t matter if they were Asari, like Liara, or Salarin like Kirr. The fact that she even got along with a Turian with the wounds still fresh from the Relay 314 incident said a lot about Alex. Liara knew she was someone special.

Alex covertly watched as Liara went into her ‘thinking’ mode. She figured Liara would speak when she was ready so Alex just turned around to watch the room. Kraz waved to her and she nodded back then jerked her head towards the door and held up her hand, 4 fingers up. Kraz nodded and lumbered over to the table by the door, eating what he had gotten from the chef and washing it down with a small, for him, glass of ryncol.

One of the new bouncers was following Henry around by the dance floor slash stage. With Corrupt being here tonight, it was most likely going to be a very active crowd they would have to keep an eye on. Kirr came in and waved to Alex and then stopped and smiled to see Liara there and he walked over to them.

“Evening. Glad to see you here Liara. Studying all the time is not ideal. Take a break, watch the band and enjoy the night out,” Kirr quickly said in this hyper way of talking.

Alex laughed and pointed to the end of the bar where a drink was waiting for Kirr. “Hinema has your drink waiting Kirr. I think once the crowd starts thickening I will get Liara over to there. It’s safer there in case the crowd riots with my office being there. If something happens, drag Liara in there. I don’t expect anything to but I rather be safe than sorry.”

Kirr nodded. “Of course. Someone has to do it.”

Liara jerked her head up and blinked at the two of them a moment then sighed in resignation. “Ok. I get the feeling I am being lead around but I… this is new to me.”

Alex smirked. “Yup, very new to the Asari who thinks entertainment is reading the definitive volumn of aquatic weeds from front to back.”

Liara eyed Alex a moment, trying to decide if the human was teasing her or not and then laughed. “Well it is entertaining,” she defended herself to Alex who just shook her head.

“Might as well move over to there now. I am going to have to start running the room.” The bar went from being generally quiet to suddenly loud with the first 3 groups of students making their way in and settling at the tables near the stage. Alex finished her beer and set the bottle on the counter where Hinema swiped it up and tossed it in the recycler.

Liara surprised herself by staying the rest of the night till Alex got off. The band wasn’t too bad but they were loud and Liara found herself liking the music. Kirr was a fan of the band and darted out to the dance floor a few times, coming back to recharge himself with a drink. She sat there and took in the crowd and music, nursing two more glasses of hiear.

She watched Alex as the human worked, talking to the Krogan doorman and to the two at the stage. One fight did break out but it was settled quickly with the instigator being shown the door. Alex was truly skilled at the job she did and Liara marveled at it all. Once the stage was cleaned up and the band was out of the building, Alex motioned for her to follow and they headed back home. That night Liara got a better understanding of just who Alex was.

The next few weeks proved to be busy for Liara between tests and studying. She did manage to make it out of the apartment a few more times, making that effort for Alex even if she still wasn’t sure of herself. It was a learning experience for the academic Asari. And Liara got to know more of the main stream lives of those who lived in the area.

Still she wasn’t the type to drink for the sake of it or to spend all her creds on trivial things. The one time she got into an argument with Alex was over paying for her food and drink and that was settled by the owner who made it known to Liara that her food and drink were put on Alex’s tab. Liara knew when not to argue after that and gave in. She knew Alex would never accept any credits from her because of what she had done for the human on Chasca.

Months went by and another trip was planned to visit another world to give the archeological students some more training. It was to be a short trip, only a week this time to give the students training on how to work a dig site properly. Somehow Alex caught wind of it and planned for that time frame to be free to go with Liara.

Liara expected this and was grateful because the planet they were going to was on the edge of the Verge. When she let the professor know that Alex was going to join them, the Asari matron was all too happy to have her there. They had hired a small contingent of Blue Suns but that merc group always made the matron uneasy. Having someone skilled like Alex was should make things easier on the expedition group. If she had only paid attention to that uneasy. But hind sight, as humans say, is 20/20.

Alex sat at the table surrounded by the bouncers. “Ok. I will be gone for a week in a month to travel with Liara. Narzun will be in charge of Land and Selah will be in charge of Isle during this week. Please follow their instructions. During that week there are two major events. One is the Biotiball semi-finals which will be shown on the main screen here at the Blue Land. The other even is the annual Championship at Armax. There’s a newbie there making waves against ol’ Ironhorse Chalska. That should be a treat. Selah, make sure you have extra crowd control there. It’s a fight and everyone gets uptight when their favorite loses.”

Narzun and Selah nodded, both making note of Alex’s suggestion. “If I need more bodies there I will work with Narzun to keep everything covered. Thank the goddess that there’s no events that night here.” Selah leaned back and glanced over at Narzun who nodded at her.

“Ok. That’s the fight week. In the next four weeks we have 16 different events going on between here and Isle. This week is Trans Decend and the human sports Super Bowl. There might not be a lot of viewers for that unless they happen to like that. The dance floor will be open when Trans Decend is here. Over at the Isle is Keartlea’s book signing then the next night is Kracken.” Alex looked at the booked events and sighed.

“Week after is a double down. Jani here and Rushk at the Isle at the beginning of the week then there’s a few days before Corrupt plays at the Isle and end of the week is Clawball’s semi’s. Then after that we have the University renting this place for the night which won’t need but one or two making sure the academics are not harmed. Isle is busy that week with 3 bands playing and the finals for Clawball. Raxirian should make that fun. The last week of the month has two events a piece here and at the Isle. Morlena hasn’t informed me yet of who will be playing. So we’ll all earn our creds this month.”

Everyone chuckled at Alex’s joke and she signed and picked up her beer, taking a swallow. “That’s everything. I’ll get the schedule out next week for the events. Let me know if you have an issue with the nights you are working. Any questions?”

Everyone looked at everyone else and then shook their heads. “Alright. I’ll see you all in the morning for our daily jog. Selah, bring your armor and equipment. We are heading over to the arena after for some training.”

The rest smirked at Selah and Alex eyed them. “Actually everyone bring their equipment. I want to see how you all do against me,” Alex said and then she was the only one smirking. Served them right for laughing at Selah.

“At least I will not be alone in this,” Selah said with shake of her head.

By now they should have known Alex would have done that. A few of the newer people groaned but didn’t complain. Most of them understood that training helped them get better. Alex wouldn’t have hired them if she hadn’t seen something in them. They were all willing to go the extra distance for her and even the newer employees knew that.

“Actually. Wear your full armor and weapons. There’s a huge difference between running free and running in combat conditions. I will be doing the same. It might concern citizens though so I’ll run it by Trineh right now.” Alex stood up and started to walk away, omni tool blazing to life as she contacted the Hy-SEC captain.

Alex woke up the next morning and showered then slipped into her gear. She slapped her Punisher, the Karpov and her Titan sniper rifle on their magno-strips and grabbed her hood. Then she twisted her body and stretched to make sure the under armor and armor was properly moving. Satisfied she left the apartment.

It didn’t take her long to get to the spot where they were meeting. Henry and his trainee were waiting for her as was Selah and Kraz. Narzun quickly followed Alex to the meeting point in his armor and Tad made it after that with the trainee he was assigned. Alex looked at the group and except for Tad’s trainee, the rest were in full armor and gear. She smiled and clapped her hands together once.

“Ok you lugs. We are taking our normal run first then heading over to Mala’s to run one of the courses. So let’s go!” And with that Alex started to job, the rest hesitating a moment before following her.

She could tell that except for Kraz, her and Henry, the rest were not use to the extra weight so she didn’t set her normal pace. Alex was pleased that Selah kept up and showed that drive that got Alex to train the Asari in the first place. When they were done she walked around to keep warm and the rest did the same. Kraz just laughed at the newer trainees who were huffing and puffing. Once she was sure they had cooled down properly she lifted her hand and motioned.

Everyone climbed in the two aircars and headed over to the arena where the fun was to begin. Mela was waiting there to open the arena for them since normally she only opened it up after mid-day. The Turian waited till everyone was in then locked the door behind her.

“Ok Alex. You got a few hours to play with. Which simulation do you want to load up?” Mela peered over at Alex with a grin, knowing the woman was going to push the rest hard. She was going to make sure to record this session.

“Hmm, Urban 8, high pop,” Alex said after a moment of thought then turned to the group as Mela laughed and walked away to set the simul up. “Ok guys. Urban 8 is a city situation. Lots of buildings and spots to cause trouble. Also the streets will be crowded so  you need to watch for that. I am going to be on overwatch. For the rest of you this means I will be the eye in the sky so you will have to follow directions. The rules of engagement here are no civvie casualties. Our target is going to be a POI, a Krogan in fact which Kraz will enjoy.”

The rest laughed at that and then Alex continued. “If given the chance the Krogan will incite a riot. Our mission is to prevent this and capture him and drag him to the extraction point.” Alex paused and peered over her shoulder. “Mela, make the LZ in H3 and extraction LZ at where ever the SEC station is.”

“Got it,” came Mela’s voice over the intercom.

“Ok set your suit frequencies to alpha gamma omega 89410. We will use that and I will update you over it. LZ will be a Kodiak landing. Crowd will be aggressive so keep that in mind. I will ‘land’ with you and split off to find a good position up high. Tad you are the medic. The simul will let you know what kind of hit you’ve taken guys. Kraz, Selah. you are point on this. Narzun is in charge in case something goes wrong on my end. Henry you are back up and keep watch on your newbie. Same goes for you Narzun.”

Both newer bouncers just grinned and that reminded Alex. “Mela, mod the sim so that Nat here has standard armor protection at least.” She eyed Nat. “And we will have to make sure you get some armor later,” Alex told the man.

“Sure thing boss,” Nat responded with and saluted.

“Ok any questions?” Alex looked at the rest to see if they did.

“So we are going to look for a Krogan, is this a normal snatch and grab or what kind of force can we use on the Krogan?” Selah had taken some time to think it over and since it was a Krogan, she rather know how much force she could use against him.

“Subdue if possible. Cannot kill him or the simulation will end. The goal is to get the Krogan to local SEC building. If the crowd goes wild or any of you get hurt the RoE changes to doing what you need to do without mass killing. If it’s an accident, ok. If its intentional the simul ends. Keep that in mind. I will be on overwatch and it will be my call. If I am taken out and the call hasn’t been made yet, it will be Narzun’s call. Got it?”

The rest nodded as Alex looked them over and then she smiled and reached over her back, grabbing her Titan and brought it to the front as the gentle whirling extended the weapon out to its full length. “Treat this as real,” was all she said before approaching the entry into the arena which was shaped like a Kodiak door. “Ready?”

Everyone pulled their favored weapon out and voiced their readiness. “Ok Mela, start it.”

The lights went out then came back on and the holo showed them being in a Kodiak with the simulated pilot talking to them. “LZ in 30 seconds. Crowd appears to be rumbling. SEC is retreating though they did pinpoint the target’s location about a click south east from the LZ. Get ready.”

Alex moved closer to the door and pulled on her recon hood. It blacked out her face and scattered her voice. “Helmets on guys and get ready to rumble.” She was excited and her fingers clenched around the stock of her sniper rifle.

“Coming in hot, LZ is busy. 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…,” the pilot said and then the door lifted up and opened to show a street with a crowd at the end.

The crowd shouted at the Kodiak, arms rising but they were wary of engaging the team. Alex crouched down to the right of the door and aimed down the sights at the crowd. Kraz did the same on the left side of the door and the rest boiled out and took positions watching their six. Since the crowd didn’t move and there was nothing behind them for now, Alex rose up and motioned with her hand.

“Ok I will let you know when I am in position. You heard the pilot, head south east,” Alex then turned on her cloaking and disappeared from view, heading in the opposite direction of the crowd with her silent stealth. Once she was around the corner she turned off the cloak and brought up the map of the city. Once she found the perfect sniping spot she headed towards the building in question.

After five minutes of jogging and avoiding the angry mob she found the building and entered it. The lobby was deserted and she headed towards the elevator but it was down. “Oh Mela, you are killing me,” she murmured and the Asari laughed.

“Not making it easy on you either Alex,” Mela teased over the private channel.

“Let’s see here…,” she trailed off and took out her blade, thrusting it through the seam of the door and levering it open enough to get her fingers in. Knife went back in its sheath and she pulled the doors open and glanced down and up. She couldn’t see the car so she turned on the light of her sniper rifle and directed it towards the shaft. There was a ladder on the far side though she narrowed her eyes at it. Too easy. Still it was there and she wedged the door open then made a running jump and catch one of the rungs on the latter. Grunting she levered herself up and started climbing. “Ok guys, im almost at my Overwatch spot,” she passed through the private channel.

“Acknowledged,” came Narzun’s voice.

A rumbling was heard and Alex stopped to glance around then happened to look up and swore in Greek. The elevator was coming down fast and ripping the ladder out of the wall. She pulled her knives out and leaped over to the other wall, knives burying into the material like a hot knife through butter. Then she pressed herself against the wall as flat as possible and felt the wind of the elevator as it narrowly missed her.

“Thanks Mela,” she said with as much sarcasm as possible.

“Welcome,” came back the cheery voice.

Alex grunted in response and looked around. Just above her was one of the crossbars of the elevator and she yanked one knife out of the wall and reached up to stab again, using the knives to climb the wall up to the girder.  She sheathed the one knife and reached for the metal, getting a hold then pulled the other knife out and sheathed it.

With some effort she pulled herself up and stood on the beam. Then she pulled her rifle out and shined the light around the darkened shaft. This time there was the cable that held the elevator swaying before her and she grinned. She collapsed her rifle and put it back in its magno-strip then leaned against the wall and pushed off.

Her fingers caught the cable just as she started falling and she felt the tug to her shoulders. She wrapped her leg around the cable and the stepped on the cable as it rested over her foot. In that way she rose up to the roof slowly but steadily. Once she was up there she grabbed the beam overhead and moved to the closed door. This time the door opened easier for her and she pulled her rifle out and crouched down once she had feet on the roof.

Alex carefully made her way over to the edge of the roof and then peered over and down. “Sitrep,” she said softly.

“We are coming up on 5th and Admiral now,” Narzun said after reading the signs. “I’ve never seen this city before,” he commented.

“Not unless you visit earth. This is patterned after the old city of Albany, New York. I am at the entertainment center towers. If you look to your north west the 4 tall towers.” Alex responded with.

“Got it,” Narsun said after a moment.

Alex brought her rifle over the edge and aimed it down in the direction she knew where they were. Then she closed one eye and focused on the scope, slowly moving it till she found her group. They were making good time and avoiding the angry crowd. She shifted her view to further towards the area where the Krogan was last spotted and carefully moved over the crowd milling around there. She finally found the Krogan after a minute.

“Target spotted. Still at last known location. He’s got the crowd riled up though so this will be tougher. And… shit is that… ok fire hot. Crowd is armed. Watch your six too,” Alex had spotted a few pistols and quite a few assault rifles with a few shotguns.

She brought her rifle down and leaned it against the lip then relaxed. The team could honestly handle the chaos if being shot at. She really didn’t need to watch them too closely and Narzun would keep them moving. The sound of gravel shifting was about the only warning Alex got before she was attacked and that happened so fast that she could only respond.


	6. Chapter 6

Alex heard the step and started to turn but then pain exploded in her midsection and she gasped as she arched her back. That pain was the only thing she could think of even as Mela screamed in her ear that this wasn’t part of the sim. And when she looked down at what caused it there was a blade of some sort sticking out just below her diaphragm.

The only thing she could do was wrench herself back and roll, the blade snapping off with a crisp sound as she cried out and dug the rest of the blade deeper into her body. Then she rolled again, dodging the foot that went to kick her, deflecting it with her arm. The assassin flipped backwards away from her and cloaked, leaving Alex to wonder where they were.

A flicker was the only warning she got and she lifted her arm, blocking the fist with a shorter knife, twisting the arm and then turning towards the arm with her other arm stiffened and aimed at the elbow. The assassin yanked their arm back and dropped the knife to preserve their arm from being broken at the elbow.

Once again the cloak came into play and Alex backed up, her armor red with her own blood now. She pulled out her Punisher to spray the area and a kick sent that flying but she spun the opposite way and roundhouse kicked the assassin in the helmeted head. The white armored opponent rushed at Alex then and in a smooth shift of her body, she went left as the assassin’s arm came out to punch, grabbed the wrist from the outside and pulled the smaller opponent in the same direction of the punch.

The assassin rolled away from Alex and cloaked once more which made Alex growl and she shifted her stance, gaze going distance as she listened and felt with every ounce of her will. A shift there, she lifted her hand up in a half moon pattern to block the haymaker then counter with a shout, her elbow ramming into the helmet of the assassin and sending them reeling away backwards.

“Salta gamisu,” she hissed at the assassin and then readied herself once again.

The assassin came at her with a whirlwind of attacks, fist and foot attempting to pummel Alex. Alex managed to block the two hand attacks and one of the kicks but then the assassin flipped, kicking Alex under the chin and sending her backwards into a wall. She cried out as the blade came out further from her body and the assassin came in for the kill.

Alex rolled against the wall as the assassin’s foot thudded into it right where her head would have been. Her last effort was to throw herself and her elbow at the assassin’s chest, both reeling at the impact and Alex falling to the floor. With the last of her adrenalin she lifted her hand up with her Karpov in it and fired the full clip into the assassins’ body and head. At the same time the sim faded into the walls of the arena and the Karpov’s powerful shots echoed in the smaller space.

The team was about to move on the Krogan when things began to go tits up on them and the sim faded. But the sound of a pistol thundering in the space left had them all turning, weapons out only to see Alex laying there in a puddle of blood and her assailant falling over, little left of its head or chest considering the Karpov, at close range, had torn the assassin apart.

Tad was the first to reach her and started to pull the broken blade out but a cry from Alex had him pull his hand back. There was so much blood and he was kneeling in it. Mela ran in with an assault rifle and pointed it at the attacker. She leaned over and prodded the body with the barrel and then grunted and looked over at Alex.

“Well this is a damned mess,” she muttered and Alex coughed, laughing weakly.

“Right,” Alex said faintly. “Kraz?” She coughed again and motioned to the Krogan who moved over. “Pull it… out… slow…,” her voice failing her at the end as she panted.

Kraz came over and heard Alex, his eyes brittle at first then understanding. With his hands he started to pull the blade out a centimeter at a time, going slowly. “Damn human, only you could take a knife in the back and still kill the wielder.” It took him 5 minutes with Alex finally passing out to remove the broken blade entirely.

Mela stood with her back to them and rifle aimed at the arena door. She was angry, angry that someone had infiltrated her sanctum and tried to kill someone else for real. Now she was going to have to add more security and that had her raging. “So help me… if I find out who sent that pile of pyjak shit here I am going to rip them a new asshole.”

When Kraz yanked out the remaining bit of blade from Alex’s body he tossed it next to her and then took a drink from his flask at his hip. Smirking he tipped a little of the ryncol over Alex’s wound and watched as she yelped when she suddenly sat back up. That stung quite a bit apparently. She cursed at Kraz for a full minute before her eyes rolled back and she passed out again.

“We should take her to the hospital,” Mela said and Kraz laughed.

“Give the human a half hour and she’ll be ok,” Kraz rumbled.

The rest nodded. After seeing Alex take a bullet and be fine they knew that their boss would heal up from even this though she did look more than a bit battered and her armor was a loss. Narzun shook his head and got the newer members of their team to move out and guard the aircar. He sent Tad out after to see if anyone was waiting for them. The Salarian cloaked and went scouting the vicinity for anyone out of place.

Selah frowned, knowing that something was really wrong with the situation between Alex and her would be killer. She moved over to the body and squatted down with a grimace. A Karpov wasn’t something to mess with at close range and the fact that Alex had an AP mod on it said so. There wasn’t much left of the head but some bone and meat and the chest had a pattern of holes. She could tell by the blood that the assassin had once been human like Alex.

There was part of a symbol on the left side of the chest plate and she rubbed her thumb over the blood to get a better look. It was black and yellow and shaped somewhat like a hexagon but more than half of it was shredded by the AP rounds so she really couldn’t’ say. Selah wiped her fingers off on the armor and then took the offered towel that Mela handed her.

She stood up and turned to the rest. “I think the Boss needs to come clean. This was too organized for a random hit.”

The rest of the group lifted their heads up and Henry scowled. “Yea, its black ops alright. This is the third attempt so far. I think we will have to tie her down and get her to talk.”

Narzun pondered what Henry and Selah said then hummed low in his throat. “Blackwatch would be proud,” he said finally and then sighed. “Well we need to clean her up but there are no change of clothing for her so we’ll have to get her back to the Blue Land and someone will have to go get her a change of clothing.”

Selah nodded. “I’ll go do it after we get her back. I don’t think she’s going to wake for a while. We can put her on my couch and let her wake on her own.”

With a few towels from Mela, they wiped off most of the blood from Alex’s armor and face then cleaned up the mess left by the death of the assassin and Alex’s wound. Kraz carried Alex to the aircar and put her in while Narzun got in the driver’s seat. Once everyone was in he lifted off and headed back to the Blue Land, landing in the private parking lot and then they carried Alex into Selah’s loft and laid her down on the couch.

Selah took her own personal aircar over to Alex’s apartment only to find Liara was just getting ready for the day. She hesitated a moment before frowning and making Liara sit down. “We need to talk about Alex. She was almost killed today and yesterday someone shot her. I came over for a change of her clothing but… do you know anything that can help us understand what is going on with the human?”

Liara opened her mouth to say something but Selah dropped that bombshell on her and she blinked a few times, stunned. “Wait… did you say someone almost killed her?”

Selah nodded. “Yes, an assassin interrupted the training exercise we were doing. She’s resting right now in my apartment. I just came over to get her some clothing that wasn’t bloody or had holes in it.”

Liara shook her head slowly, still not believing it but she rose up. “If you would excuse me a moment, I will get that.” This was something normal she could do because right now if she thought about what happened she was going to freak out. She wandered back out after a minute with Alex’s clothing and then blinked down at it and shook her head. “Sorry, this isn’t right.”

Selah sat there and watched the shy Asari get up and leave then come back out and turn around again. She chuckled softly and rose up to follow Liara to Alex’s room. “Here, I’ll help.”

Between the two of them they managed to get everything Alex would need and then Liara went with Selah to see Alex. When she arrived Alex was still sleeping on the couch with Kraz watching over her with his shotgun out. He nodded to Liara and moved out of the way as the Asari moved over and settled down next to the couch.

The two watched as Liara reached out, hesitated a moment then lightly brushed her fingers over the dark hair of the human. She moved a few strands out of Alex’s face gently and Selah could see that Liara cared for Alex. That made her grin a bit because she knew Alex had no inclinations towards Asari’s but then again, Liara acted more like Alex was her family than a lover.

Selah silently excused herself and got a glass of water for Liara. She handed it to the maiden and then moved away towards the door. “Watch over them Kraz,” she said before leaving the loft to find her sister.

Morlena was sitting in her office doing orders it looked like. Selah sighed and sat down heavily in the chair across from her sister. Morlena glanced up briefly then back down before suddenly sitting up straight and looking at her sister. For a moment she stared at Selah and then set the pad down and leaned back.

“Ok, say it,” Morlena said.

Selah opened her mouth a few times then shook her head. “Alex was almost killed today. An assassin got to her. She took quite a few heavy injuries.” And there Selah wrung her hands together, worried which got Morlena’s attention even more.

“I… see,” she said slowly, trying to piece together the words Selah spoke. When they fell into place she grimaced. “The assassin?”

“Dead. Full clip from Alex’s Karpov to the head and chest at close range. Alex had an AP mod on it. It took… care of the assassin,” Selah answered carefully. “Her armor is trashed. Apparently the assassin had some sort of blade that can penetrate armor plating.”

Morlena frowned at that. What kind of bladed weapon could pierce through modern armor plating? She turned on her omni tool and shot out a message to a contact then glanced up at Selah. “And here I thought she was “fake” training you. Now I come to find out you’ve seen more death and blood in these few months than most Asari see in their first two years. Granted its only Alex’s blood.” A snort came from Morlena after that.

Selah laughed shortly at that then lowered her head. “She could have really hurt me the first time I messed with her. Instead she just hurt my pride. The second time she put a little more into her actions but I only had a wrenched shoulder for a few hours before it was fixed. That assassin took a full clip to the head and chest after Alex lost half her blood and with a blade impaled in her body. What kind of human is Alex?”

A beep made Morlena pause a moment and she glanced down at her omni tool, reading the response. “Hmm. A monomolecular blade proto-type.” She sent off another message and then looked back up at her sister. “I’ll take care of the armor,” she said calmly. “Let me know when Alex is awake.”

Selah nodded, a bit relieved that her sister was going to handle things. She wasn’t quite ready for that yet. “Ok.” She rose up from the chair. “Liara is with her right now.”

Morlena arched a brow up at that then pursed her lips in thought. “Make sure she eats. Alex would want that.”

Selah nodded and left the office, hurrying back up to find Kraz at the door and Liara still sitting next to Alex. At least the human didn’t look like she was blue-gray skinned anymore. She moved over and started to pull the ruined armor off, carefully detaching the plates from the underarmor. Once that was done she grimaced at the implied damage.

Liara gasped when she saw the slashed suit and reached out to lightly touch it then jerked her hand back. “How did she survive that?”

Now that the armor was off they could both see that the blade might have pierced her heart, the damage to the suit was that close. Selah shook her head at that. “I don’t know…,” she said softly.

Liara sat back heavily in the chair and covered her face with both her hands. Selah could tell the maiden was on the verge of tears. She reached out and rested her hand on Liara’s shoulder. “She lives, so try not to worry too much.”

Liara was comforted by Selah’s words. It was true. Liara met Alex when she was broken and the human healed quickly but Liara thought that was just a trait humans and krogan’s had. She might be wrong about that though. The maiden sat back in the chair and wrung her hands together.

Alex didn’t wake during the time they removed the damaged armor and peeled off the ripped under armor. Selah grimaced because there was no way not to get Alex’s blood on her couch without dumping her in the shower and hosing her off. She sighed and got up, coming back with a bowl and rag which Liara snatched out of her hands and started to clean the blood up. Kraz turned his back to them and glared at the door while they cleaned Alex up.

Between the two they got Alex undressed, cleaned up and clothed in no time and then Selah left to get a drink for Kraz, Liara and herself along with something to eat. She came back up with Henry following carrying the food and drinks then Kraz took his drink and downed it before heading out of the apartment while Henry took over for him.

“So how much longer do you think she will be passed out?” Henry glanced at his omni tool for the time. It had been over two hours since the incident.

Liara tensed a moment and then stared at Alex. “When I found her, she slept most of the time but I got the impression her back was hurting her greatly. It took her a week to recover fully. The weapon just barely missed her heart or might have just barely nicked it but without a scan I can not tell.”

Selah shook her head. “Anyone else would have been dead. Her? She takes it, fights her attacker and then kills them before finally giving up.”

Henry snorted in amusement. “I have to say this. She’s a survivor and knows how to fight and she’s military still. You can’t rub off the brass from her. Whatever reason she is here, I can’t say but it’s a good one.”

The door opened at that point and Henry had his shotgun already raised and pointed at Morlena. He also lowered it a moment later when he recognized her. “Sorry,” he said with a smirk.

Morlena waved that off. “Good reaction. Keep it.” She looked over the room, noted the remains of lunch on the table and Liara sitting by Alex while her sister was looming over them and Henry was obviously guarding. She smiled and turned, picking up two cases from outside the doorway and setting them down.

Selah eyed the cases and saw the Serrice icon on them and smirked at her sister. “Busy already?”

Morlena laughed. “No, just a opportune time to give Alex her bonus pay.” She settled the cases out of the way and then sat down on the other chair across from Liara. “Anyways, I did manage to dig up some information on Alex and review the vid of the attack. And I think I understand why Alex is here. Officially Alice Stevens immigrated to here. That’s part of the information I got. The other bit is who attacked her. The design on the armor is rather blunt and obvious when you watch the vids. Alex is no slouch either. She could put a group of Commandos down from what I saw.”

Liara gave Morlena an inquisitive look. This was going to be more information than Alex ever gave her and she had pieced some together from her interactions with the human. “She never did tell me what happened at the embassy. Just came home with her equipment case and another case holding credits and ids.”

Morlena nodded and looked at her sister. “From what my contacts could dig up, Alex is an Alliance N7 which is must like Blackwatch and the Commandos are. She took part in the Relay 314 Incident under a paramilitary group that the Alliance hired to help them take back Shanxi. About 9 months after she joined something happened and suddenly she’s a N7. After watching that vid I can say she’s definitely N7 material even if she didn’t take the training. I assume she gave the Alliance something so valuable that they hired her on and fast tracked paperwork. From what she’s told me she also will get called out to do some wet work or to train recruits for the N7 program. She’s very specialized though so it might be a few months or a few years before they need her. She’s out here now hiding from that group that she resigned from. Cerberus is that group’s name. Their icon is a bit loud and blunt.”

Selah snorted then laughed sharply a moment. “Of course, it makes sense now.”

Liara pondered over the information that Morlena gave them and then peered at Alex. She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter why she’s here or who she really is,” she finally said and glanced at the rest. “She’s here and if there is one thing I do know is that she has made herself a home here. She’s my friend and I hope she continues to be so.”

Morlena nodded and smiled. “My impression is that she will not move on but she might take short breaks for her other job. That I can handle and she’s got a good group she’s trained here. Narzun makes a great second and the fact that she’s human and works with him with no problem says a lot about her character.”

Liara smiled slightly. “She’s never treated me as anything but a friend. I don’t think she sees any of us as separate species. That is likely why she left this Cerberus.”

Morlena paused a moment and nodded after. “True. It had to be bad enough that she would refute them. Which leads me to believe I should be keeping an eye out on this organization. I trust her enough to know what she hasn’t said is pretty horrendous.”

They all nodded and then Morlena rose up. “Well I need to get back to managing things. Keep an eye on her and let me know when she does wake up.”

“I will, ‘Lena,” Selah said and leaned back against the counter, pondering what little information they had now.

Liara rose up and brought her glass to the sink, sighing softly. She sat it down and turned to look back at the couch. Alex had wheedled her way into Liara’s life through pure accident and now the Asari was worried about what future her human friend had. And now that everyone had stopped talking she made her way to the chair she had vacated and sat back down, gathering up Alex’s hand in hers and holding it.

Selah watched as the younger Asari moved to put her glass down in the sink and then came back. She could tell that Liara was out of her element and taking comfort in Alex’s presence. So she let her be and walked to the door. “I am going down to the bar. I’ll send Narzun up in a bit to relieve you,” she said to Henry before leaving.

Liara glanced over as Selah left and then turned her attention back to Alex. The human’s coloring was more normal now than it had been when she first arrived. Less greyish and more the color Liara was familiar with. She put Alex’s hand down gently and checked her omni tool then sent a message off to excuse herself from her classes for the rest of the day before resting her head back against the chair.

The quiet and stress hit Liara at that point and she quickly faded off to sleep. She had no clue how long she had slept when something poked her knee over and over. With a sleepy grumble she brushed at her leg only to meet a warm hand and that made her open her eyes to see that Alex was finally awake. Henry was gone and Narzun was there with his mandibles widening in a Turian grin.

“Hey,” Alex said weakly with a lopsided smile.

Liara responded with a smile of her own and the squeezed Alex’s hand. “You worried me,” Liara said softly.

“Sorry about that. Not my fault,” Alex said and grinned slightly at Liara.

“No, I suppose that is true. Not everyone can get impaled and take out the one that impaled them.” Liara smiled a bit then frowned down at Alex. “You could have died,” she said, her tone wavering.

Alex could tell Liara was on the verge of crying and sighed softly. She pushed herself up with a groan and ignored the searing pain that came from the movement. Still not fully healed but close enough. Liara started to protest but Alex pulled her into her arms and hugged her tightly. Liara all but clung to her. “I am sorry Liara. Really. I wasn’t taking things seriously enough and it got me almost killed.”

Liara just turned her head and rested it on Alex’s shoulder, her eyes closing as she tightened her arms around her friend. “I never had a sister but I consider you more than just a friend Alex,” she murmured.

Alex laughed then coughed at the pain that caused. “I think I can accept that,” she said and squeezed Liara. “Now I am still alive so don’t you dare cry about this,” she said firmly to the Asari.

Liara gave a watery laugh and pulled back a little with her eyes full of tears but smiling. “I’ll try not to. I rather not lose the only one I consider family.”

Alex was surprised at that. “You never have talked about your mother and your father.” Which is to say that Alex wasn’t the only one keeping secrets.

Liara nodded sadly. “Mother doesn’t understand why I want to study ancient things. As for father, I don’t know who she was but I can understand she was Asari.”

Alex didn’t know what to make of what Liara said and she wasn’t quite sure why having both parents be Asari was a bad thing. She didn’t have enough information to understand that. “Well I don’t know about you but I could use a drink and some food.” Her stomach growled and startled Liara who almost fell out of Alex’s lap.

“Goddess.” Liara said and then moved from Alex’s embrace and sat down in the chair. About that time the door opened and Selah and Morlena entered with one of the new wait staff following with a tray of food.

“Oh thank the gods. I was about to start eating the couch!” Alex’s voice was teasing but made the wait staff pause and boggle at her and since it was a Salarian holding the tray, it was rather funny to see.

“Put the tray on the table there,” Morlena said and pointed to the squat table sitting like a coffee table would before the couch. The Salarian put the tray down on the table and then scampered out without being told.

“Gotta break him in don’t you ‘Lena?” Alex’s tone was wry with humor.

“You have no idea. Salarians are so hyper but at the same time they are childlike.” Lena grunted as she sat down, offended slightly.

Alex’s eyes lit up at the fish and chips and she grabbed a piece of the seafood and popped it into her mouth. Liara snitched a chip up and chewed on it, mischief in her eyes at Alex’s weak protest. Still she left it there in Liara’s reach as she contently filled her stomach. “So talk ‘Lena.”

“A few things. Come clean to your group. You know they have your back. Also I brought your bonus earlier. You’ve done exceptionally well with your job and carved the bouncers into a worthy group to employ. I rather have you outfitted with the best but this will do since I have no access to SPECTRE weapons and armor.” Morlena smirked at Alex, daring her to protest.

“I… what?” For once Alex was speechless. Then she thought about it, well about the first part and sighed. Yes they should know what she did even if it wasn’t that much. Her omni tool beeped at her and she glanced down, seeing a message waiting. Distractedly she looked at Morlena while opening the message and then her focus was down on the message.

Liara leaned over to read it and snorted in amusement. “Heard about your trouble. Will distract the junkyard dog for a bit.” She paused and glanced up at Alex. “What is a junkyard dog?”

Alex started to laugh and then wheezed and pressed her hand to her chest. “That still hurts,” she said with a grimace. “A junkyard dog… well to us humans, we have pets and a dog is a kind of pet, canine. A junkyard dog is a… well it’s hard to describe them come to think of it because as far as I have seen most species don’t have pets as companions.”

Liara did a quick search for what a dog was and her eyes widened. “They remind me of varrens but less unfriendly.”

Alex leaned over and snorted. “Yea a cocker is the least mean looking dog you could find. Look for a Rottweiler or a Shepard. Both are a working breed of dog that is used for security and SEC work. Use to have a Rottie,” Alex said fondly, remembering the dog.

Morlena cleared her throat and both Liara and Alex jerked their heads up, Liara giving a apologetic look and Alex a sheepish one. “Now that it is cleared up, what are you going to tell your guys?”

Alex thought over it a moment. “Everything I know. Keep in mind my memory is gone and I’ve only learned a little of my past. It hasn’t really mattered too much to me since I have a home here but it’s not a lot and there’s no real links beyond the assassin’s employer.”

Morlena chuckled. “Actually I might be able to add to that. From what I know you fought at Shanxi during the Relay 314 incident as part of a group called Cerberus. Something you learned had you flee them for the Alliance and it must have been important enough that they fast tracked you and attached you to your human N7 program.”

Alex stared at Morlena as she spoke, given that what Morlena said was a few more pieces added to the puzzle of her past. “Hmm, well that makes sense now,” she murmured to herself. When she realized everyone was looking at her she gave a hollow laugh. “I am Greek. The history of my people is long and colored. Greek mythology having more documentation than the Protheans do. Anyways Cerberus was a three headed dog that guarded the gates to Hades. Hades had basically three parts to it. The Elysian Fields, Asphodel Meadows and Tartarus. The first is where the heroes and those loved by the gods went, a paradise. The last, was a place of eternal punishment where the worst were sent once they died if they did evil things. Asphodel is the neutral area, much like purgatory where those who did neither heroic nor evil things went after they died.”

Liara was fascinated by what Alex said and made note to look up the information Alex gave. Still she wasn’t quite sure what Alex meant when she said it made sense. “Interesting. Origins myths are colorful with any species.”

“I don’t get it,” Morlena said and Alex laughed.

“Sorry, I was sidetracked. Cerberus is a three headed dog. That message said junkyard dog. A junkyard dog guards a junkyard from looters just like Cerberus guarded the gates of Hades,” Alex explained and Morlena laughed suddenly.

“You humans amuse me more and more every day.” Morlena tilted her head then rose up. “Well I wanted to see with my own eyes that you were ok and now that I have, I have business to attend to. Alex, your bonus for a job well done is in those cases,” Morlena pointed out the cases. “I took some liberties with the scheme but I think you will like it.” Then she was gone out the door and Selah dropped down into the chair her sister vacated.

“So…,” Selah said and grinned. “About that training…?”

Alex just laughed and waved her away. “Tomorrow Selah, tomorrow.”


	7. Chapter 7

A few days passed before Alex felt ok enough to do more than sit and supervise. She ached and no painkillers worked to take that away. And to be honest, she was tired too. Stayed tired enough that it wore her down to the point she had to take naps mid-day. That aggravated her but she felt better for it every time.

By the fourth day she was more than ready to do more than sleep, eat and sleep. That was when the director that was supervising the students on their last dig came up to her while she was eating at the Blue Land. Alex was enjoying a real burger that made her mouth water when the Asari sat down across from her. Alex swallowed the mouthful she had and then arched one brow up.

“What can I do for you?” Alex studied the Asari a moment, long enough to get the impression on her.

“I am Nosra H’marl, the director of the archeological section of the University. From what Liara T’soni has said, you intend to come along with her right?” The Asari sat almost stiffly in the chair till Alex grinned at her.

“Let me guess, you are rather happy to have me along?” Alex gave her a questioning look a moment but the furrowed brows from Nosra had her grin fade and she leaned towards her.

“I have a… concern you could say. The planet we are going to is at the edge of the Terminus and the students, the ones willing to go… I am still worried that having just you along will not be enough,” Nosra sighed and clenched her hands together tightly, her shoulders straining from the worry.

“Look, you know your Commandos?” Alex waited till Nosra nodded. “You should know that I can take a unit of them down with no issue because of the training I’ve had in the military. If that is not enough, I also am a N7, Special Forces for the Alliance. I am on sabbatical right now. And if push comes you shove, I have a small army here that would be willing to come to me and I can hold out. On top of that, I am a tech expert so I can help with that if you need it. Lastly, gods know these kids haven’t learned to cook so someone should be able to feed you all.” Alex smiled after that, almost smirking.

Nosra listened, put at ease by the human at first till she started to name off things she could take care of. That put her worry up till the N7 was mentioned. Then she couldn’t help but laugh at the end because it was true. “True, none of us are concerned about our meal being tasty, not with fascinating ruins to explore and dig up. I came here looking for a reason to tell you no and I can’t find one reason to not beg you to come!”

Alex laughed. “You will not find me disagreeing. I am glad I eased your mind. Was there anything else you wanted?”

Nosra smiled at Alex and then paused to think it over. “I have never supervised a class before on a dig so knowing what to bring and what you would bring would be helpful. Do you think you could come to my office at the University tomorrow afternoon?”

Alex thought about it a moment then nodded. “If you could tell me where it is…?”

Nosra waved her hand. “Liara can show you where it is. With the last professor off world to visit family, we have no one here who knows how to supply the students. And the University will pay you for your time, that they told me to tell you.”

Alex leaned back in her chair and eyed Nosra as she took a sip of her drink. “Why is it that you head the department but have never experienced being out on a dig?”

Nosra blushed an almost violet color and ducked her head before sighing and slumping her shoulders a bit. “Academic mostly, no real experience. I know everything but it’s all class room and tablets. I wouldn’t be doing this if there was anyone else who had the actual knowledge and experience. Dr. H’rul was the only one in the entire department who had done it out there in that quite frankly scary area. She was the only one willing to do it, otherwise we would have never considered a dig anywhere on a planet near the terminus.”

Alex knew that Nosra’s bluster wouldn’t last past the question she asked but she waited for the truth and found herself shaking her head slowly. “I don’t blame you. Its nasty and with the Batarians and pirates, well you never know when you will suddenly find yourself not in a classroom.” Then she switched gears. “Have you eaten yet?”

Nosra caught herself nodding to Alex’s words and then blinked at her and thought about it. “Umm, I had breakfast… I think,” she said and frowned. She honestly could not remember when she last ate.

Alex snorted in amusement and motioned Hinema over. “Please give this lovely lady anything she wants to eat on my tab Hinema. Ignore her protesting,” Alex added with a chuckle when Nosra started to do that.

It was not funny that the human grinned at her and all but demanded she ate. Then again, she had seen Liara lately. The maiden had more of an aura about her that spoke of health and she glared briefly at Alex. “Might as well give me my regular Hinema,” she finally said much to Alex’s perpetual amusement.

Nosra waited till Hinema had dropped her drink off and then studied the human female. While Nosra sipped at her wine Alex finished off the burger and chased it with a swallow of whatever she was drinking from the bottle. To the Asari, she seemed more than competent. There was a ease to her movement that showed she was wasting nothing and at the same time Alex was making sure everyone around her was where they were supposed to be.

When her food was served she turned her attention to that and started to eat it slowly, paying attention to the sauce that could drip on her suit if she wasn’t careful. Alex at that point watched her a moment then glanced away, lifting her bottle up to Hinema who came over with a fresh one for her. She tipped it back and took a drink of the imported beer and then looked past Nosra to see Kraz there. She waved and then checked the time.

“Well I have to get to work… paperwork at least. Send Liara the information and I will see you tomorrow at least. I’ll have a dossier of stuff you will need. I assume this is frontier and no prefabs?” Alex arched a brow up.

Nosra took a sip of her wine. “I think there will be prefabs. I’ll check when I get back. I never expected a human to be so kind to an alien,” she said hesitantly but knew, just knew, that Alex wouldn’t be offended. Something about her said so to Nosra.

Alex glanced at the Asari from the corner of her eye and then smirked. “I aim to confuse,” she said teasingly before walking off.

Nosra sat there a minute, trying to understand the idiom that Alex quipped and then shrugged. She finished up her meal and drink quickly then rose up and nodded to Hinema before leaving to head back to her office. There she shot off a message to Liara before getting into her own work and forgetting about what happened for now.

The next day Alex met up with Nosra with Liara and they worked out all the supply issues along with logistics of the dig trip. Nosra was rather pleased with the results though later on she would curse herself for the whole thing. If she had only known at the time.

The rest of the week Alex spent in helping Liara with her things or making sure that Selah and Narzun would be fine running things while she was away. They had to both keep reassuring her that they had it handled. After the twentieth time, Selah all but forcefully pushed Alex back with her biotics, surprising both of them. And then Selah profusely apologized about that. Ales laughed it out and grinned, saying she deserved it.

The morning the students were to leave found Alex sitting at the Blue Land having breakfast with Liara. Neither of them spoke much as they ate though Alex finished before Liara because the Asari kept on nursing her tea, nervous about the last trip she would take before graduating from the Serrice University.

Alex pushed her plate away and sipped her coffee, pleased that Morlena had imported it. It was a acquired taste that Narzun, Kraz and she enjoyed. Liara sat there picking at her breakfast, her eyes showing she was deep in thought and it took Alex poking her nose lightly to get her out of her thoughts.

“Want to share?” Alex smiled at Liara and then tilted her head slightly.

Liara stared at her a moment then blinked a little. “Oh, sorry. This is the last thing I am doing as a student. After that, I will graduate and… I don’t know if I can get a job. My. Mother dislikes this path I’ve taken.” She trailed off with a soft sigh and glanced outside.

Alex thought over what she said a moment. This was new to her but now that she thought back, Liara never spoke of her mother which said a lot about the two’s relationship. Alex furrowed her brows because she had always been close to her father. Akak was always there for her even after her mother had died and the two were close as a result of their shared tragedy. And that brought her back to the present and she glanced at her omni tool then opened it up and sent a message to her father, apologizing to him for not contacting him sooner.

Liara finally looked back then down at her breakfast and finished it up. “We should be meeting the rest at the space port in a hour.”

Alex looked at the time and nodded. “Narzun is going to drive us over there and bring my skycar back.” They had packed and put everything in the skycar before coming over to Blue Land for breakfast. Alex swallowed the last of her coffee and then rose up, nodding to Narzun who set his cup down and got up.

“You two have fun,” the Turian said in his dual tones.

Morlena was there and handed Alex a small box. “If something happens, use this.” She knew about the area they were going and it was better to have some sort of safety than nothing at all.

Alex just laughed Narzun and Liara gave him a nervous smile. “I hope so,” Liara said after a moment.

Then Alex glanced down at the box and opened it. In it was a plain, cheap looking necklace and she arched a brow at Morlena. “No one would steal that and it won’t activate till you crush the pendant’s crystal. It’s a homing device to which I hope you do not need it.”

Alex nodded and slipped it over her neck. “Pray the gods see fit to keep us safe,” she said and smiled before turning away.

Narzun slipped into the car after Alex and Liara got in and then started it up.  It took them thirty minutes to get to the space port and another 10 to get to the departure zone where they met up with the 7 others including Nosra. From there they made it to the gate where their transport was waiting and loaded their personal items into it. Crew were loading the heavier items like the prefab cases and equipment they would need.

Alex waited with the rest, listening to the students nervously twitter about random things. Liara was silent, fidgeting one moment and the next still. This, to Alex’s knowledge, was something new from the maiden Asari. She arched a brow after catching Liara’s eye and the Asari stopped with a sheepish smile.

A few hours after that found the students and two chaperones on their way. It would take a day to get to the relay and then a week to get to the planet they intended to explore. Alex took the time to catch up with some reading, speaking to Nosra when she wanted to talk and relaxing. She never realized till that moment just how busy running the bouncers were.

After hitting the relay the transport cruised towards their destination. Alex received a response from her father and smiled at it. He wanted to know why she had been silent so long and where she was and when she was going to come home to visit. So she replied that she was on a ship heading for planet out near the Terminus and that it was best to not tell him where. She also told him she found herself on the other side of the galaxy and had been busy and that she didn’t know when she would have time to visit but maybe after this trip she could take the time. After that, she sent the message off and went back to her book.

“Vector approach is 5 by 5 sir,” the helmsman said as the captain watched their approach.

“Keep her steady so we don’t burn up in the atmos. The landing zone is in sector 9 G Mr. Glassglow,” the captain responded with.

“Aye, aye, sir! Approaching the window now… and through. Hull temperature is within acceptable levels.”

“Keep her steady…,” the captain was happy to find everything in order and glanced over at the visitor at his side.

“We should be landing in about 10 minutes Ms. Stefanos. If you would like to, you can tell the kids that we are almost there now,” he said with a laugh.

“Naw, they know. Most of them are chomping at the bit to be back on solid ground or sticking their nose in the dirt. We should see you in about 2 weeks right?” Alex shifted, her crossed arms dropping down to her sides as the captain nodded.

“Yup, we should be back around after the cargo delivery back in the Sol system. You keep them safe here, it’s still too close to the Terminus for my liking,” the captain replied.

“Yes sir,” Alex said and snapped a salute to him.

The captain laughed and shooed her off. She nodded with a grin and turned, leaving the bridge to find the rest who were various states of excitement. Liara was quite, her fingers flexing as she sat in her chair, waiting for the ship to land. A few of the others were either talking quietly or sleeping, taking rest while they had a chance.

Alex sat down next to Liara as the ship’s motion changed. They were breaking to land now and she relaxed, waiting for the signal from the captain. When it came she rose up and eyed the rest. “Ok listen to me. Let’s get everything unloaded and worry about who’s going where later after we get the prefabs set up. The ship will be unloaded as quick as they can and then will be off. They will be back here in two weeks so we have time to explore to your heart’s content. Later.”

Nosra nodded in agreement knowing Alex only had their safety in mind when she said it. She, like the rest, grabbed their stuff and disembarked once the hatch was down. The air that hit them was a bit dry but cool with a strange scent of sweetness. Thankfully it wasn’t something to worry about and they brought their stuff out, setting it down well away from the ship then turned to help the crew unload the supplies.

A hour later saw the ship departing and everyone turned to break out the pieces of the prefabs. With daylight starting to fade they had very little time before dark came upon them and Alex finished the last prefab just as darkness fell. The students piled in to the prefabs and started to unpack while Alex checked on their dinner she had started earlier. Finding it done she covered the large pot up and it was not too long before the students came back out to get their dinner.

It was in silence that the eight ate, a few looking up at the sky and others too tired to care about more than their food. One by one they cleaned their plates and then slipped into bed, leaving Alex and Nosra to clean up after. And when that was done, both retired to the prefab they shared with Liara and another student.

It was late morning when Alex woke and ventured out of the prefab. She yawned then started setting up for breakfast for the students. When it was simmering she found a clear space and started to run through a half forgotten kata, enjoying the movements that cleared her mind. She was finished by the time the first of the students came out, eager to get started.

After breakfast, the students were assigned areas to search and work on and most of them packed up their equipment and started out. Liara lifted up her backpack and then turned to Alex with a faint smile. “Ready?”

Alex nodded, slapping the Karpov on the mag-strip at her side. “I’ll make sure we are back in time for dinner and I packed a lunch for the both of us.” She tugged on her own pack that carried the food and other things then motioned for Liara. The Asari turned and then accessed the map before shifting her orientation and started walking. Mostly the land was flat and dusty, with patches of grass the only reason there was no dust storms to greet them.

It made her uneasy at first because there were no signs of any sort of creature till she finally spotted one well camouflaged. It was the same color as the grass and its pattern was exactly alike. Alex pointed it out and Liara smiled at it, explaining that it was similar to vermin though less destructive and more wanting to hoard shiny things.

They arrived at the spot assigned to Liara and Alex set up a temporary camp while the Asari started to grid out the area she picked. It was bare ground with no grass growing and in fact the dirt was a different color than the dirt they had walked over. Liara explained that something kept the grass from taking hold and whatever it was also discolored the dirt because of degradation.

Alex set up the small tent, leaving the sides rolled up so the breeze could blow through and keep her out of the sun. She unpacked the water and took one bottle, sipping at the cold water. Then she watched Liara for a few minutes before turning to her book and reading. It was a few hours later, when she checked the time and realized it was past noon. She got up and grabbed a sandwich and bottle of water and walked over to where Liara was.

“Lunch time,” she said as Liara glanced up at her with dirt smudged on her nose.

“Is it?” Liara glanced around, realizing she had worked long and hard for a few hours and then glanced down at the piece that she had started to uncover. While it was not Prothean, it had the characteristics of one of the earlier Turian colonies that had settled out in the galaxy a long time ago. She couldn’t quite tell what was depicted on it yet and sighed as she set her brush down next to it and got up.

Alex handed her the sandwich and water and then turned to tent, motioning. They both settled down in the shade and ate though Liara kept giving her dig a longing glance. That made Alex snort in amusement and she gave Liara a look that told the Asari to eat first then go back to her work. Liara visibly deflated at that and dug into her sandwich.

It was a job in itself to make sure the Asari didn’t starve herself. Once she got on a tangent it was hard to pull her away and Alex knew this from experience. It didn’t take Liara long to demolish the sandwich and then she took her bottle of water and went back to the digging. Alex glanced up at the sky a moment, seeing a white trail that could have been a cloud before turning back to her book without another thought.

The sun was shining in her eyes when she realized it was time to head back and she shut down the app for the book she was reading and got up, packing up everything she had set out then turning to Liara. “It’s time,” she said to the Asari who looked up tiredly at her and nodded.

Liara quickly packed up her stuff and shouldered the back before they turned to head back. They weren’t the last to arrive but they weren’t the first either. Nosra nodded to them when they got back and Alex started to make dinner for the group. This is how the next four days went for them.

The fifth day found Nosra pacing well after dark as one of the students hadn’t returned yet. Kaldro was not there. Alex told Nosra she would wait to see if the Salarian returned and told her to get some sleep. She settled down in the dark and waited, making sure all the lights were off so she could see better in the darkness.

Movement caught her eye and she looked away, letting the darker shape show in the edges of her vision. It was too large to be the Salarian which worried her. She got up and crouched down, waiting for the movement to get closer. The muttered curse and the sound of someone kicking a box hit her ears and she slipped her Karpov out. When she was able to distinguish the form her Karpov wavered a bit because another form followed and both wore armor. She backed up and away from them only to stop when the feel of cold metal pressed against the back of her neck.

“Get up,” the gruff voice said and snatched her Karpov from her grasp. Like lightening, she shifted and spun, grabbing the shoulder armor and falling back, throwing whoever that was towards one of the other bodies.

The impact of two armored beings met her ears and she grabbed her Karpov, the thunder of the gun making it all but a moot point to be silent when she fired two shots into the two down beings. The crack of another pistol had her dodging, rolling back into the shadows and making whoever had taken that shot at her curse. A barked order had 10 different lights shine in the dark and Alex barely made it behind one of the prefab boxes before someone shinned their light on where she had just been standing. She backed up more and dodged around one of the prefabs just as one of the students came out, rubbing their eyes tiredly to ask what was going on.

Alex heard the sound of a fist meeting flesh and the student crying out before going silent. She silently made her way towards where she hid her other weapons. She came around the otherside of the prefab where the armored beings didn’t expect and fired 3 more shots. One thudded against a shield, the second pierced one figure’s shoulder and the last snapped back the head of what appeared to be an Asari. Alex had to dive to cover after that as one of them unloaded an assault rifle on her location.

A shouted command to find her came from the leader and she rolled under the prefab, crawling in the space underneath. Footsteps came around and then another curse was heard when they found no one where they expected Alex to be. With 3 of them dozen out of commission she crawled out from between two of the prefabs and waited for someone to come around the corner. They were met with the handle of the Karpov to the temple and taken down. Alex kicked the crappy rifle under the prefab and then peered around the corner.

The leader ordered the rest to pull the students out of the prefabs and the mercs, for that was what they were, did so. All the students including Liara were tossed to the ground in front of the merc leader and tied up. Then the leader’s voice came out of the dark.

“Whoever you are, come out and we will not hurt you but continue to fight and you will be killed,” he said with a growl.

Alex shook her head and looked around, trying to see a way out of this situation they found themselves in. She couldn’t and straightened up. There was more of them than there was of her first off and second, she saw no way to kill them all without having the students suffer too. “Yea, alright,” she said and came out, hands up and pistol held by the barrel.

“Throw that over there,” the leader said and she did as he said. Then he dropped his hand down and the crack of a sniper rifle echoed in the dark.

Alex felt a burning pain hit her, staggering her back. She looked down to find blood pouring from her chest. Her lungs burned as she took in air and then coughed up blood. Then the world tilted and she saw the stars, the pain overtaking any thought of peace she had. One hand pressed over the bullet wound and the other crept up to the necklace, grabbing a hold of it and crushing the pendant between her fingers. That was the last thing she remembered as darkness crushed her sight.


	8. Chapter 8

Selah frowned as she entered the office her sister sat in. She settled down in the chair and leaned back, relaxing. Morlena had called her in for some reason and she didn't know why. She hoped her sister was not going to send her off somewhere. She finally found a place for herself and felt very happy to stay where she was. So while she tried to appear relaxed, instead her sister could tell at a glance that Selah was uncomfortable.

Morlena frowned a little herself but at the datapad in her hand. Some of the numbers were not working right and she sighed, tossing the pad down then peering over at her nervous sister. That made her inwardly smile. She leaned forwards and then gave that slow smile that foreshadowed trouble. Just not the kind of trouble either of them expected.

"So with Alex gone for a week, you've been diligent in your work over at the Isle. I am thinking o-, " and Morlena's voice was cut off as a piercing buzz cut through the office. She jerked her head up and then swore as she snatched a box off the shelf behind her.

Selah jumped at the sound, eyes wide and growing wider as her sister used words that would have burned the ears off any commando. She jumped up and rubbed her arm then dropped her hands to her sides. "What is that?"

Morlena continued to cuss as she synched her omni tool to the box and read the display. She ignored Selah as she hit a few buttons and then bit her lip. "Go get Narzun please," she said in a deadly voice.

Selah jumped to the task, running out of the office and grabbing Narzun, literally dragging him back to the office. "Morlena, you, now," she all but stuttered and the way she said it had Narzun's protest dying quickly.

The Turian entered the office just ahead of the Asari and he gave a questioning look to Morlena. The Asari in question motioned for him to sit in the chair to his left then stabbed a finger at the other chair. "Sit," she told her sister, voice still holding that edge.

Narzun settled gingerly in the seat, now concerned because of the way Morlena spoke. She never spoke like that unless something bad had happened and that had his imagination spinning like a child's toy. Still he waited for her to speak to them instead of demanding answers. She would give them when she was ready.

Morlena shot of a message to 3 different rooms and then looked up at the both of them. "We have a huge problem and that's about all I know of what is going on. Remember the necklace I gave Alex right before she left?"

Narzun nodded. "Yes, a cheap, tawdry thing," he said, his undertone humming with concern and not hiding it.

"It just went off. I am having a ship prepped right now. Pick your team Narzun. Someone will be coming in 10 minutes to bring you equipment which includes armor and weapons," Morlena stated.

Narzun made a leap in thought and understood that Morlena thought of Alex as a close friend otherwise she wouldn't have thought about the 'gift' she had given the human. "I'm taking Tad, Henry, Kraz and Selah here." Those 4 he truly trusted.

Morlena hesitated a moment when her sister's name was spoken but then nodded. "That's fine." A beep came from her omni tool and she smiled slightly. "And Mela is here. Get ready. A car will be waiting for you once you are all done suiting up." Then Morlena rose up, her face drooping a bit. "Bring Alex back, Narzun," she said softly and he understood that too that they all hoped Alex was still alive.

Narzun snapped a salute to Morlena then jerked his clawed hand to Selah to follow. The younger Asari leapt up and followed closely behind the Turian. "Relax Selah, the trip will take at least 3 days total to get to where we are going."

Selah nodded and then slumped. "What happened to her?"

Narzun shrugged. "It had to be bad, otherwise she wouldn't have set off the beacon. We will not know till we get there. Let's hope it was an accident and nothing malicious."

Mela was there and directing some of the bouncers to haul in the cases where she surveyed and moved them around till she was happy with the placement. "These are things 'Lena wanted to keep secret but circumstances say now is the time to crack them open. This is yours Narzun," she pointed at the striped case. "And that is yours Selah," her finger stopped on the red case.

Tad and Henry were just entering in about to ask what was going on but both went silent at the look on Narzun's and Selah's faces. Henry stiffened, knowing that look and then moved over when Mela nodded and pointed at a blue case. "I assume we are going to go see what happened to Alex?" He opened the case to a nice medium armor suit that reminded him of his old job. It was painted blue and gray.

"The beacon went off so yes," Narzun said shortly.

Henry shot a message to Kraz's tool to make sure the Krogan got to the Blue Land. "Kraz should be here shortly," he said after receiving a message in return.

"Good. Get suited up everyone. Tad you are our medic so pack anything you think we might need for injured personnel. Selah, you and Henry will be back up to Kraz when he gets here. I'll be behind with Tad covering your six with my sniper rifle. Alex's in trouble," he said as Kraz entered and heard those words.

"Shit, the human picked the worst time to be in trouble," the Krogan grumbled but his tone said he wasn't mad about it, more concerned for his krant than anything. Mela nodded to the yellow and black case for Kraz and he went over to it.

About a half hour later everyone was suited up in their armor and Narzun cradled a Mantis in his arm and slapped a Pinnacle on his belt. He looked around as he collapsed the rifle and set it in place at his back within reach on the mag strip. Kraz had an Executioner shotgun at his back and was holding a Breaker assault rifle in his paws. Henry collapsed a Lancer and settled it on his back then slapped two Karpovs on his belt. The last weapon was a Katana shotgun which he settled against his other shoulder. Selah went with an Edge pistol, carefully setting it against the mag strip at her side. Tad was the last, the Salarian carrying an Arc pistol instead of one of the provided weapons. Narzun lifted a brow up at that then smirked at the Salarian.

Morlena came out of her office and the 5 turned towards her. "I have supplied a ship to use. The pilot is a bit of a loose cannon but he can hold himself with the best of you. Mr. Moreau will meet you at dock a348 at the space port. May the goddess protect you all."

Narzun nodded curtly and then holstered the sniper rifle at his back. The rest silent followed him out and into the cars waiting for them. Forty-five minutes later they were standing at dock a348 where a human with a dark, scraggly beard greeted them.

"Name's Gustave," he said and offered his hand to Narzun who understood the ritual gesture and clasped the human's hand, shaking it.

"You know where we are going?" Narzun dropped his hand to his side and the human nodded as he motioned for them to follow him onto the ship.

"Aye, shouldn't take but three days to get there. The Vengeance is fast and agile." He waited till they had all boarded before slapping the button to close the port door.

A corridor traversed the center of the ship, linking the cockpit with engineering and both having doors to keep out things. Moreau turned away from the controls and headed down towards the back of the ship.

"This is the rec room," he said and slapped the button to open the door. It was a small room but had a few comfortable seats with a viewing screen set against the inside of the hull.

Narzun barely glanced at it as the rest peered in as he followed the pilot. "This is the crew quarters," Moreau said and smirked. "Settle yourself in. The last door before engineering is the washroom. And don't bother Kelea'Breizh, she doesn't like her space invaded." And he pointed at the door to the engineering section. "Strap in because we are leaving as soon as I can get clearance. The rec room has a small kitchen in it if you are hungry."

Narzun watched as the human male walked away, whistling a tune. Then he looked at the rest and gave what passed as a smile. "Settle in and when you are done meet in the rec room. We need to make plans for when we land."

The Turian took the first bed he came across and placed his stuff in the footlocker then headed to the rec room to browse through what rations they had. It didn't take long for the rest to wander in and just as Tad made his entrance Moreau let them know they were departing.

Narzun poked through the rations, satisfied to see that along with dextro rations were levo rations. And the standard dextro paste Quarians ate. He made a face at that and then turned to the rest who had settled down in whatever seat met their fancy.

"This is what we do know. About 4 hours ago Alex's beacon went off. What we do not know is if she is hurt or in danger. I can assume the danger part. We will have to prepare for the worse and hope for the best, as the human's say. Tad I want you to double check and make sure you have medi-gel for Alex and make sure you have anything else you need to handle a severe injury. Kraz, you are point when we land. Henry and Selah will cover you. I want you to go in hard and make sure nothing is moving. I'll be behind you all and make sure you do not take a direct approach in case I have to snipe."

Narzun then hit a button on his omni tool and a holo rose up from it, showing the area where the students were. "This is the basic setup. Clear each prefab and if you find anything, shout it out. I know this is not much to go on, but this is the best I can think of for now. Once we land, plans might change so I want each of you to think of what changes could happen and plan accordingly. Otherwise, relax and rest up for when we hit landfall."

When Narzun stopped talking the rest settled in, quietly talking to each other to stave off nerves and try and figure out what could happen verse what did happen. Narzun let them, it was better than thinking the worst could happen. He prayed that they didn't find Alex dead but wasn't sure because the woman was a soldier and a fighter. It would have to be something terrible to take her out to the point she used the beacon.

It took most of the rest of the day for the rest of them to settle down. Moreau was good to his word and they hit the relay only after a few hours, shooting out towards where they knew Alex to be. Once he had the autopilot running he came back and joined in with the rest. Narzun found the human always had a ready joke and not at the expense of any species but his own. He had Kraz howling with laughter quickly.

It was easy to see what Morlena meant about Moreau. He didn't honestly care what he said and if someone disagreed with him, they better back up their words or he rolled his eyes. He caught Tad a few times like that before the Salarian caught on, then the two started to quietly argue most of the time. Still the smile on Gustave's face said he enjoyed the verbal sparring.

Finally they got to meet the Quarian who ran the ship's engineering. She was quiet but if provoked she had a sharp tongue and cut down Kraz a few times when he lumbered into the wrong words. That amused Narzun to no end to see the tiny Quarian take on the huge Krogan without batting a figurative eye. Predictably, Kelea and Henry got along the best since he showed a huge interest in the ship and its engines.

When they were hours out of landing Narzun had everyone suit up and make sure they had everything set up right. Being prepared was the best they could do not knowing the situation. All of them were eager to get off the ship and out in the open with Kraz shifting his heavy bulk impatiently. It was just a surprise the Krogan hadn't started a real fight with Gustave or Kelea.

"We will be down in thirty," Moreau said and walked back to the main corridor, typing into a panel. "There's a drop ramp here allowing you quick access to the outside. I will dump the power to it when I've landed so you can take whatever actions you need to after."

Narzun nodded and turned back to the rest. "Ok, this is what we will do. Kraz will take point with Henry and Selah behind him and Tad you follow after but stay close to me once we are on the ground."

"Five minutes out," Moreau called out to them after a bit. Kraz moved into position on the ramp, gripping his shotgun tightly and growling low in his throat. The ship bucked a little and they knew they had hit the atmosphere then it smoothed out as the ship punched through.

"One minute. Approaching the campsite now. I will take her down behind the ridge so you have some cover on approach." Narzun just waved at Moreau's words.

Gustave started to count down from ten to zero, slaping the panel that released the drop ramp. The only thing he heard was the growl of the Krogan as it released its pent up irritation and charged out. He heard a muttered curse after and then shut down the engines. Kelea ventured out and came up to the cockpit to watch the tactical screen Gustave pulled up.

They watched the 5 dots move, one farther ahead than the others. Two followed, splitting up to come around the backside of the prefabs. The last two lagged behind and stopped moving on the ridge. Gus could only imagine that the Turian was there peering through the scope of his sniper rifle. The coms came alive at that point and he unabashedly listened in.

Kraz snarled as he hit the ground, charging off with a guttural growl which had Selah cursing as she nudged Henry's arm. They both took off after Kraz, hitting the ridge then going down. Selah pointed to the backside of the prefabs and Henry nodded, both making their way over. Henry almost tripped over the corpse of the merc, his neck snapped and he smirked at Alex's work.

Nudging Selah he caught her attention and motioned for her to follow as the headed to the far end of the last prefab. Selah found two other corpses waiting there on the far end, both with holes in their helmets. She kicked one over to its back and made a face.

"Found 3 down and dead. Looks like Blue Suns from the armor. Newbies at that," Henry said.

"Rodger," Narzun's voice came over the suit radio. "No movement beyond Kraz and you two. Clear the prefabs."

"You heard him," Henry said and they came around the end of the prefab while Kraz stared down at something behind some of the storage boxes between the prefabs. "Kraz clear the prefab near you," Henry said, catching the Krogan's attention.

"Yea, doing so. We need Tad down here immediately. I found Alex," Kraz said, his voice not betraying anything yet which gave the rest hope.

Selah and Henry found the prefab empty, belongings still waiting for their owners. "All clear here. Looks like they left in a hurry or were dragged out. Unsure," Henry reported.

"Same here, packs and bags left like they had just been put down. All clear, Narzun." Kraz's voice was a bit puzzled over the way things had been left.

"We are coming in now, stand by." Narzun's voice came over the radio to them and Selah and Henry made their way over to where Kraz stood. Then they understood why the Krogan wasn't quite sure what to say or think.

Alex laid there, half buried in the dirt. There was a washed out section of the dirt like someone had sprayed water over the area yet the dirt didn't show anything other than being dry. A small pile of dirt rose from Alex's chest right center over it and her body was half sunk in the loam. One of the supply boxes next to her hand was half eaten away as if acid had done it yet there was no discoloration that herald even that.

Henry stripped off his glove and reached out to check Alex's pulse. It was weak and he noticed when he touched her dry, cool skin, that a shimmering was triggered and pulsed once. "She's alive, pulse is weak though and something is really stranger than normal with her," Henry said as Tad and Narzun arrived.

Tad came over and knelt down, running his omni tool over Alex a moment then frowning at the readings it gave him. He scanned again and then shut off the omni tool. "Need new omni tool it seems. Not working correctly." So he reached out and did it the old fashioned way, checking her arms and legs first and finding nothing wrong. He then brushed off the pile of dirt and suddenly stood, reeling back away. Henry caught the Salarian before he fell over, wondering what caused that reaction.

Selah leaned over to watch what Tad was doing so when the Salarian brushed away the dirt her eyes widened at what they had both seen. There was no doubt it was a hole in Alex's chest but dirt filled it perfectly with the gleam of metallic substance peppered in it. They all leaned closer then and saw what had startled Tad. The dirt pushed up suddenly and underneath was a plate of some kind filling the hole.

About that time Alex suddenly sat up gasping for air and then coughing, dirt coming out of her nose and mouth. Selah dropped to her knees and held Alex while the human coughed up dirt. It was about two minutes later when Alex finally went limp against Selah and mumbled. "-iara…?"

Selah caught on fast. "No, we found no one here but you and 3 corpses. Are you saying the Blue Suns kidnapped the students?"

Alex coughed once more and then gave a weak nod. "Came during the night," she said weakly and then closed her eyes.

Narzun's mandibles moved in what some recognized as anger and the dual hum he gave only brought that fact home. Henry shifted, walking up to Alex and giving her a bottle of water he had. "They are gone now though."

"We need to get Liara back," Alex said, the stubborn tone telling everyone that this was not stopping the human. This is why they willingly followed her. She guzzled down half the bottle of water before capping it and setting it down then with a snarl she got up, swaying enough that Kraz reached out and rested his hand on her shoulder to steady her.

Henry walked away at that point and knelt down, looking at the prints. He traced one print then got up and looked around, his eyes glued to the ground. The rest eyed him a moment but then turned back to Alex, concerned. After Henry circled the camp he came back with his brows furrowed up. "I can see that there was at least eleven there that night. It was a mix of races which included at least 2 humans and their leader who has to be wearing some sort of power armor. It was heavier than normal heavy armor."

Alex nodded, it sounded about right. "And the sniper," she said quietly, her tone sharp. "My armor and weapons are in a case under the far prefab," she said and pointed. Selah moved without being told to get them and Alex said nothing more on it. "I… you got her by ship yes?"

Narzun nodded. "Yes, speaking of. Gustave, bring the ship in closer, there is nothing here but us." He waited as the pilot replied and they all heard the ship power up and then Alex could see it for the first time, a gleam in her eyes.

"I feel like I have a hundred pounds of dirt on me so I am going to take a shower. We need to dismantle everything and load it. The students and the teacher are most likely no longer on planet. How long ago did the beacon go off?" Alex had a puzzled frown on her face and Tad glanced up from the crate he started to pack.

"Three days. We were enroute within 2 hours of the beacon's signal. Pilot is very fast and good. Ship is good." He spoke, a little slower than normal for the hyper Salarian and Alex nodded.

"Narzun have someone find the Sun's landing zone and search for clues there. I am going to get that shower now," she said and the Turian nodded.

Selah had just returned and Alex dived into the prefab to grab her pack before appearing again and heading to the ship where Selah showed her where the shower was, still carrying the armor case though once Alex was in the shower and cleaning off the dirt, she opened the case, laid the undersuit out and then organized the pieces of armor for Alex. She then left and figured Alex could use something to eat. Kelea was there in the lounge eating some of that paste that her people ate and Selah rummaged around till she found some nutribars and what called itself chicken parm. She wasn't sure what chicken parm was but Alex would appreciate it.

Narzun turned to Tad when Alex walked away. "Follow the trail back to the base camp for the Suns. Keep cloaked while doing this and let me know what you find. I don't expect them to still be on planet but any information could help us." Tad nodded and turned away, activating his cloak as he started to track the mercs.

Alex heard Selah doing something but the water was too distracting to her as she thrust her head under the warm stream. Dirt was everywhere and she scrubbed and scrubbed till she felt clean. Her finger ran over the hole in her chest and she frowned a little. The water had run off her as brown as mud at first and then cleaner once she got it off.

When she was done she shut the water off and dried off before putting on some clothing. She found her armor laid out and smiled at the thoughtfulness Selah had then started to put it on. It was a dark gray with a pattern of feathers and she appreciated that. Morlena had gone all out on the Phantom armor for her. When she was suited up Selah came back and handed her the nutribars and MRE which she tore into and demolished while sitting there.

When they left the ship from the cargo hold she was surprised to see the camp more than halfway taken down. Narzun was packaging the last piece of prefab in its box when he looked up to see her coming towards him. He stood and saluted her which Alex shook her head to.

"I see you guys made quick headway," she said and looked around, noticing Tad wasn't there and assumed that he had been sent. "Tad find anything yet?"

Narzun shook his head then paused. "Tad find anything yet?"

"The landing zone is abandoned as suggested. They left in a hurry and I am still looking around. From the blood I assume someone fought back. It is Asari blood," he responded with and that made both Alex and Narzun frown.

"Keep us posted and once you have finished with the landing zone, return back. We are leaving as soon as everything is loaded. I want to get in touch with Morlena and see if she can find information," Alex said to the Salarian.

"Affirmed. There is nothing here so I am returning now," Tad answered.

Alex nodded then looked around, rubbing her armor over the place where she had been shot. There was this tingly feeling and she was barely holding up. It wasn't quite painful but it was a weird feeling for the human. She sighed, catching Narzun's attention.

Narzun saw the look on Alex's face and nudged her. "Go sit down. We are almost done here anyways and don't need your help for a few boxes," he teased.

He got a "no shit" look from Alex but she did sit down and then Henry gave her another bottle of water with a smirk. She uncapped it and gave him a salute with the bottle before taking a swallow. It really helped her.

About the time Tad returned Selah set the last box down in the hold and then came back down the ramp. Gustave was there by Alex and they were talking softly. Selah walked over to them. "That's the last of the equipment Alex. And Tad's back," she said, nodding towards the Salarian.

"Good. Ok everyone, get back on board. We are leaving," Alex said loud enough for the rest to hear her. Then all headed back on to the ship and Gustave and Alex walked up the ramp, the pilot closing the ramp once everyone was in and sealed it. Then he and Alex went to the cockpit while the rest went to the lounge to get something to eat and drink.

"I assume you know we are going to hunt these mercs down," Alex said as Gustave did his pre-flight check and then powered the ship up, starting to rise from the ground.

"Aye, that was a given lass," he said with a slight Scottish accent. "Don't blame you either. Bad lot this. Students are not worth much except as slaves. And I would not be surprised that the Suns would resort to slavery to fund themselves." He hit a switch and the ship shuddered slightly before smoothing out, breaking out of the atmosphere.

"Let me know when we are close enough to get a relay to Morlena. I am going to take a nap," Alex said and to make her point, she snuggled down into the co-pilot seat and closed her eyes.

Gustave snorted softly at her but said no more as he guided the ship out of the system and towards the Relay. He turned to his omni tool and typed out a quick message to Kelea about needing top speed and she said she would make sure the engines could take it. Satisfied, the pilot checked his nav data and made a minor correction. They would make the Relay within 3 hours at this rate. Kelea was a wizard with engines, producing almost 400% more power from them. It still amazed the human.

A few hours later Alex contacted Morlena and the Asari was relieved her favorite human was ok. "Thank the goddess you are alive Alex," she said.

"Barely. I got a hole in my chest that is slowly closing. It has to be something that my previous employer did," the woman responded with. "Look 'Lena I want to know where this group of morons are so I can end them and get the students back. And I have a bone to pick with their so called leader, the fucker. Still had me shot even when I gave up. Someone like that needs to be taken out of the gene pool permanently."

"Ok, give me till tomorrow. I will send out feelers to see what info I can get. Liara is a friend too. But it's the students… I hope to the goddess that they are not sold as slaves."

"Not if I can help it," was Alex sharp, angry reply and Morlena smirked.

"Ah. Well let me see what I can find out and I will contact you in the morning with what I could find," the Asari said.

"Sounds good. From what the pilot says, we should be back within a day and half," Alex responded with. "Talk to you tomorrow. Out."

Morlena turned to her omni tool after Alex cut off the communication and started to type out the message she needed then shot it out to three of her contacts. She then started back on the paperwork the bar generated. It didn't take long before the first of three responded, leaving a one word message that made her frown deeply. " _Hostage._ "

A half an hour later she was interrupted again and sighed. "Yes?" Her voice was loud enough to be heard through the door.

"Ma'am, there is an Asari here wanting to talk to you," his muffled voice came through the door, identifying him as one of the new human bouncers.

She got up and walked to the door, opening it. "Thank you. You can go back to your post now," she said and stepped back to let the Asari through. The human nodded and turned, not questioning anything as he went back to his duty.

"Tela send hers greetings. I am Genla. She thought it would be best to hand deliver you the information you requested. It is of a… sensitive nature." Genla sat down in one of the chairs and pulled out a small OSD from her jacket, offering it to Morlena. "Basically this is the series of correspondences between one of the Blue Sun leaders and the Hegemony. It isn't a pretty sight. There is also mention of a particular Asari and her daughter within it. I assume the Batarians might want to use her to get some concessions from the Council or with the Matriarch. "

Morlena frowned and sat down, taking the OSD. "This doesn't sound very good. I need a location of the group that took Liara or Alex is going to hunt down everyone that wears Blue Sun armor and kill them."

"Ah yes, the human. She is different from most of her species. We have watched her and like what we see. She is only one example of her species sadly. Most are not like her," Genla said and relaxed.

"I think that this is beyond what I asked for. Thank you. Here is the payment and a bonus for you taking the time to come to me," Morlena said as she typed on the omni tool a moment.

A beep came from Genla's and she smiled at the bonus. "We appreciate doing business with you when you are prompt. The Suns are not anything to fool around with and we got recent word that there will be a takeover of the leadership. If the correspondences between the Hegemony and this Vido are anything to be concerned over."

Morlena nodded. "Thank you again. If I need any more information I will let Tela know," she said and stood up, Genla rising and smiling.

"Have a good day then." The Asari let herself out and walked out of the bar, lifting her omni tool up. "It is done," were the only words she said before walking down the street.

Morlena looked at the time and sighed, her last contact had not yet responded so she would wait till at least tomorrow before letting Alex know. It was late already and she got Hinema to bring her something to eat while she looked at the OSD. There was a lot of concerning data about the deal between the Suns and the Hegemony and the fact that Liara was mentioned a few times made this all not a random happening.

Morlena leaned back and pondered the data. She knew Alex was going to be mad about this. She knew the human would also retaliate with great force on the group that actually took Liara. This meant she was going to have to do without the top team of bouncers. Then again, Alex had made sure even the new ones were trained well before letting them go off on their own.

It seemed to her that perhaps the bouncers should maybe be more than just bouncers. She nodded to herself and would bring this up to Alex next time they talked. There were fewer reasons to form a merc group than Alex had and she already had her core with the rest that were out there with her now. She set her omni tool to mine data about Alex's home region and then finished her almost forgotten meal. It was late now and she was tired.

Morlena locked up the OSD in her office safe and then tidied up before locking the door behind her. She set the plate down in the kitchen and then left to her loft apartment, finding that much needed sleep that her body craved. She laid down and was quickly asleep, mind still full of half formed plans.


	9. Chapter 9

Alex waited impatiently for the docking process to finish. The woman stood at the door and tapped her foot while Moreau finished. The man could tell from a glance that the Greek was hell bent on doing something about what happened. It couldn’t be more known by him or anyone else that had spent the last day and half with the woman. And there was a fire in her eyes that told him someone was paying. Gus shut down the engines and sighed, letting the door unlock so Alex could leave.

Kraz eyed whom he considered his Battle Master, seeing the impatience and rather pleased with how things seemed to be going. The Krogan cracked his knuckles and gave a low chuckle which made Henry arch his brow. The Krogan just grinned at the human the slapped him on the shoulder. “This is the kind of thing I can get into,” he told Henry who understood after a brief moment and then gave a sharp nod.

To Henry, Liara was a sweet, innocent girl caught up in a firestorm of greed. Unlike the rest, he knew who exactly Liara’s mother was and the influence the Asari matron wielded. No one ever accused Henry of being stupid now. “I just hope this doesn’t blow up in our faces Kraz,” he said and gave a shrug before following the hyper active Alex. “I cannot imagine how Alex would handle it. Liara is like the younger sister she never had.”

Narzun nodded with a faint sub harmonic grunt. “I know one thing. The Suns are going to regret riling her up. I intend on being there to see this. You all should be thinking of this, otherwise she will go on her own. It is possible she will get killed. I rather keep her around.”

Selah could hear from Narzun’s tones that he was worried about what would happen. Selah on the other hand accepted what would happen. She was more than willing to pay any price if it meant helping Alex. The younger Asari had come to respect the human as someone different, a human that had no prejudices and harbored no ill will towards anyone that didn’t act first in a manner unfitting.  “It doesn’t matter. I will go where ever she goes and help her to the best of my abilities.”

Kraz grinned at Selah and smacked his fist into his other hand. “I agree. I will go where my krant and Battle Master takes me. This will be a fight worth it.”

Of the entire small group, the Krogan understood better than the rest about battle. While he was young, he still had more experience than most of them except for Alex and Narzun. The rest just nodded in agreement with Kraz, they could not disagree at all. It was action they needed and all of them were willing to follow Alex into battle. Henry, more than the rest, had a stake in this. He was an ex-merc but he had a bone to pick with the Suns and to get his vengeance on them would be bittersweet but satisfying.

Alex stepped off the Vengeance and gave a sharp glance around. She strode up to Morlena when she saw the Asari and nodded to her.  “’Lena,” she said her tone sharp.

Morlena studied her a moment then smiled at her. “Welcome home Alex. I am very glad to see you alive and well.” Morlena then held her hand up. “We will talk back at the Land. I do have the information you want and we need to discuss things.”

Alex pondered Morlena’s greeting but couldn’t find anything to fault about it. “You know, I think this is home now for me. At least it feels like it. I will always have Greece in my heart but here, I have friends and a life. And one of those friends desperately needs me.”

Morlena tried not to wince at the harsh sounds of Alex’s last words. “I do not disagree with you at all.” She saw the rest gathered and nodded. “Come on. The quicker we get back the better it will be for you,” she said with a smirk in Alex’s direction.

They left the spaceport and Morlena had a large aircar waiting for them. They all piled in; still in their armor but none of them felt they wanted to take it off. It took about a half hour to get back and they all walked in without giving much mind to the patrons or bouncers who greeted them with grins and smiles. Some of the bouncers though, they caught the hard glance Alex had and went quite, nudging their co-workers when they continued. Something was going on and a few of them could almost see the writing on the wall.

“Hinema, get the cook to make enough food for us all and have it brought back to the meeting chamber. We will be there,” Morlena said in passing and the bartender nodded, shooting off the favorite orders of the group from her omni tool. Morlena strode into the conference room and then let them enter, shutting the door behind as a lock engaged.  “There, no one can enter and no one can hear what is said. This information I have is of a particular nature.”

Alex stood there, her arms crossed over her chest and she glared at the back of Morlena’s head before the Asari turned around and expressed her concerns over the data she had procured. For a moment Alex tensed up then she sighed and nodded, understanding that sometimes sensitivity of information was best left to those who knew how to handle it. So the Grecian woman sat down at the head of the table and the rest followed suit with Morlena sitting opposite of Alex.

Alex leaned forwards and brought her hands up, fingertips in contact as she leaned her chin on her thumbs. Blue-green eyes settled on Morlena and waited for her to begin talking. She had a contemplative look in her eyes now and Morlena was glad that Alex was now in the mindset of thinking instead of reacting. She looked at the rest, eyes sticking to her sister a moment then returned to the human sitting across from her.

“This is the situation. One of my contacts brought me a series of correspondences between the Hegemony and a Vido Santiago who is one of the leaders of the Blue Suns. The other leader, a Zaeed Massani, most likely will not be leading the Blue Suns soon. I believe Vido is going to attempt a coup. At least that is what my contact says. It is a possibility which means we have a shot at taking down the group that took the students with little resistance. This is the good news.”

Morlena paused to look at the group, trying to gauge their emotional response. She was inwardly pleased with how they responded to the information. “The other issue is this. Most likely they will use Liara as a wedge with the Council or with the Matriarch’s Council or both. This cannot happen. I have a vested interest in this never coming to fruition. And aside from that, most likely those students taken will be sold as slaves. Most of them are the brightest students the University has and with Nosra taken, the University is losing a much respected member of the facility. While this does not concern me, it’s a bonus if we recover her also.”

Here again Morlena paused to gauge each of their reactions. All of them were attentive and listening hard to what she said with only Alex’s eyes sharp as glass. This was the determination Alex would show time and time again in the future that they all would remember first seeing in the conference room. Morlena was going to continue but a knock came to the door and she got up and opened it, letting Hinema and another server through. They deposited the meals before the group and left without a word. Hinema knew an important meeting when she saw it.

Rising up, she moved over to the collection of hard liquors and wines, selecting a robust cordial and pouring a snifter. She set her glass down at her seat and then picked up a blue bottle, tossing it to Kraz. The Krogan removed the cap and took a sip, grinning at the hard taste of ryncol. For Narzun, she poured a expensive glass of Turian whiskey out for him and slid it over. She knew Selah liked the Blue Caber wine and poured a glass for her. For Tad she slide over a bottle of water, knowing the Salarian didn’t drink at all. Finally for Alex she cracked up a bottle of Ouzo, pouring some over ice in another snifter then setting the glass down before Alex and leaving the bottle within reach.

Alex watched the rest with a faint smile. They all were happy to be there and started to eat. Her gaze flickered up to Morlena when she sat the glass down and the human picked up the glass, taking a sniff first then a sip. A soft laugh came from her at tasting the liquorish flavor of the ouzo. She took a large swallow and then dug into her meal, washing bites down with the smooth liquor.

When they were done, Alex leaned back in her seat and brought her gaze to Morlena. The matron smiled briefly then glanced at the rest, finding their attention was on her. This made her smile more. She took a final sip of her cordial and then stood up and walked around the table to the side that was empty. A quick flick of a haptic button had a holo rise up from the center of the table. They all looked confused at her and she smirked.

“Do you know how a mercenary company starts?” She didn’t wait for them to respond but kept talking. “It starts with a core group that has all the same ideals. It starts with a leader,” she looked at Alex a moment. “It has its captains,” and then her eyes turned to the rest. “Each of them are brothers and sisters, willing to fight for each other and instill a loyalty to each other that cannot be broken. In you six I see this. I see this in the way Alex has added knowledge and training to each of you. And you repay her by being the best you can be because of that. I see her working with the newer bouncers and I see how they respond. As an employer, I could not ask for more from Alex nor any of the rest of you. Why I say this? Because I think you can start the core group and your reputation will soar. Alex and each of you will make sure of this. I have contacts that can help launch the group so I have to ask if you 6 are willing to start this venture?”

Morlena literally put Alex off her current train of thought with what she said and her jaw dropped as she stared at the Asari in total surprise. The rest glanced at Alex then back to Morlena then back to Alex like they were watching an old world tennis match. Narzun turned his attention to the Asari matron and snorted a bit. Kraz just grinned widely. Selah was just as surprised as Alex and that showed in the wide eyed stare she gave her sister. Henry looked thoughtful a moment while Tad’s gave continued to go back and forth between Morlena and Alex, curiosity showing.

Alex thought about it. She really stopped thinking about taking out the Blue Suns and thought about the ramifications of starting a merc company. Her first thought was that she liked it but the second thought that crossed her mind was if she was allowed to do such considering her position within the Alliance.

The rest watched Alex’s face, saw as she thought things over and the frown that ended it. Each glanced at the other then Morlena who continued to watch Alex then smirked at the frown. With a press of a button she forwarded a message to Alex.

Alex was brought out of her thoughts to the faint beep of her omni tool and glanced down, the tool turning on and displaying the message. She blinked and then tilted her head back up. “That was your doing, wasn’t it?”

Morlena nodded slightly. “I had to know who you were Alex. I have… contacts in your Alliance willing to explain. It was through one of them that I was able to gather information about you. Someone thinks you are a great asset. I happen to agree.”

Alex leaned back and sighed, rubbing her hand over the back of her neck. “Ok,” was all she said but everyone at the table broke out in huge smiles.

Morlena nodded. “This will be unique at first considering your troops come from the bouncers. I think all of them should take turns at being a bouncer. Right now we have better things to consider, like Liara and the rest. The information I have is about a safe house location that the Suns use.” She pressed a button and the hologram changed to show the safe house.

Alex leaned forwards to study it, finding the entries and exits and making note of choke points within. She lifted her arm up and her omni tool came to life as she transferred the image so she could take a closer look at it.

The rest looked at the building, Narzun about the only one concerned about the tight quarters. He saw Alex working on it and relaxed, knowing she would show them all the points and give them a plan of attack. The Turian rose up and refilled his glass, bring it back to his seat and waited.

Morlena watched Alex as she started poking at the schematics and gave a rather wide smile of satisfaction. Now she had Alex into a thinking mode for certain and things would end up better she figured. So she curled her arms up over each other and leaned back.

Finally Alex sighed and shot the data back to the hologram, certain areas lighting up in red, others in blue. “Ok. It’s not a great location for us. Its tight, small hallways, lots of blind areas, close quarters. SMGs and pistols or shotguns is what we should take.”

Alex manipulated the holo. “Here,” she pointed to the red locations. “These are the chokepoints. Here, here and here.” She pointed to each location in turn. “We will have to be careful. Narzun, I want you sniping but not primary. Kraz, shotgun and point, with Henry and Selah as backup. Tad, you and I will be taking a separate route through the back. Silent kills. Make sure you cloaking device is in working order.”

Alex frowned at the holo. “Two teams. Me and Tad, then the rest of you. You will breach here,” she pointed to a weak point in the structure where a hallway intersected with a wall. Without knowing where the students and Liara are, you guys will have to clear room by room. Me and Tad will come up behind whoever is there and take out the backend. Hopefully we will meet in the middle and have everyone safe. Does anyone see anything I might have missed?”

Narzun leaned closer and touched the holo, turning it as he looked over. He opened up the building a bit more. “I think here is where you might want to come in,” he said, pointing to a window on the upper floor. “This is a smaller, isolated room. We go in loud, and you two come in quietly.”

Alex thought that over and nodded, it made more sense. “Good idea, this will draw out anyone from the 2nd story down into the first story, giving us an easier time to case the top floor first and then meet you guys. It’s simple but we don’t know exactly what is in there either. We are going to be going in blind. And that is one thing I don’t like.”

Narzun shrugged. “Recon. Scout out the building first then go in.”

Alex almost face palmed herself at that. Of course. “I might be a tad bit rustier than I thought,” she said after a minute of silence. That earned her a chuckle from the Turian.

They all went silent when a knock at the door came and Alex frowned then nodded to Henry who got up and opened the door. A soft murmur hit their ears as one of the bouncers gestured behind them. Henry nodded and stepped aside, letting in the woman.

Jan Moller strode through with a cool look till Henry closed the door and then sighed and eyed Alex with a bit of tired resignation. “Sometimes I wonder if it was easier to ignore you than to let you through,” she said but her tone was teasing and the wry smile on her lips said she was joking.

“You would be bored sitting at your desk knowing the Matron’s Consul like I do,” Morlena drawled out and Jan laughed.

“Very true. Anyways, Alex.” She pulled a data card out and offered it to the Greek. “This came by courier about an hour ago. It’s from the big guy,” she said and Alex’s eyes lit up and she smiled slightly.

The mention of the name brought pleasure to her, she knew it was good but she didn’t know what it meant. Still, something good was better than something bad. “I don’t know who that is but I know they are a friend at least.” She took the card and slid it into her pocket for now.

Jan glanced around then looked at the holo. “Why are you heading to there? Last I knew, they had cleared that place out about 3 days ago. Vicious little bastards,” Jan said.

“What?” Alex’s voice was sharp and she clenched her hands.

The envoy was surprised at the harsh tone and then furrowed her brow. “What happened?” She looked between Morlena and Alex.

Morlena answered the human. “Two days ago a group of Blue Sun’s kidnapped a group of Serrice students out on a teaching expedition. One of them was Liara T’soni.”

Jan grabbed on to the back of the nearest chair in shock. “Dear god. Great and our SF fucked that up hard. They found a few newbies and nothing else. Damn it.” Jan dropped into a chair no one was sitting in and sighed heavily.

“Batarian pirates have been attack random locations, taking people of any race or species for slaves I would assume. Someone somehow managed to slip information to SI about a location which happened to be this building. I know because I was there during the meeting. Never seen a building like this before,” she motioned at the holo. “Anyways, they sent in SF, not N7s but the SF instead. All’s they found was 3 newly joined mercs and no information at all.”

Morlena’s shoulders slumped down and she shot a glance to an enraged Alex. Alex looked ready to go through a legion. A legion. Legion. Her eyes lit up. She turned to Jan. “Well this is you Alliance’s fuck up. Alex is N7 as you well know. We are going to need to find out where they  went now.”

Jan nodded. “Let me get in contact with a friend in SI, let me see what they can give me. It helps that Alex is. Give me a day ok? Alex please?” Jan turned to the angry Greek only to have icy rage shown to her.

“A day,” Alex said clipped. Everyone got the feeling she would then start going through every Blue Sun she crossed over and start ‘asking’ them.

“That gives me time to get more information too. We can pool our resources together Jan,” Morlena said. “Also, I think a fitting name for the group can be The Legion.”


	10. Chapter 10

It was dark and silent, Liara in peaceful sleep when she was jolted away by two loud sounds. It took her tired mind a few moments to place what those sounds were. Those sounds were followed by another shot which sounded different. The Asari froze because the sound was so unexpected in the middle of a camp where the only person who had a gun was Alex. Her eyes widen then and she eased back on her cot, her back against the wall.

The sound of someone crying out had her trying to make herself smaller, maybe she could hide? Suddenly three more shots rang out, deafening her since they were right at her back. She jerked and fell off the cot to the floor when the chatter of an assault rifle sounded out in response. The mass effected particles pinged off the prefab it seemed and she was glad she was on the floor.

A voice she had never heard before shouted out and suddenly the door to the prefab was forced open. She glanced up to see the barrel of a shotgun aimed at her and her eyes widened in fear at that. She almost wet herself in fright. Neither the merc nor Liara heard the thud of Alex taking down another merc silently. Another merc pushed pass the one with the shotgun and kicked the other student out of the bed. Then both were forced outside and thrown down at the feet of a human in blue armor.

Liara could tell this man was not new to fighting, not from the way his armor was scuffed up. Then she had her turned at being tied up like the rest, glancing around and hoping Alex would save them. Then she noticed just how many mercs there were. There were a lot of them and she was afraid to say anything.

“Whoever you are, come out and we will not hurt you but continue to fight and you will be killed,” the leader said with an angry rumble to his voice.

Liara wanted to tell Alex to not do it, to not give in. It was obvious to her at least that this human was not forgiving at all. If she were to speak or say anything she was certain he would aim at her and kill her and that was the last thing the Asari wanted. She just wanted to live, to study the Protheans and be respected.

“Yea, alright,” Alex said out of the darkness and everyone turned towards the voice as the human appeared in the light with her pistol held by the barrel.

Liara wanted to warn her, wanted to tell her to run, to get away, to leave them and come back but again, that might prove to be her death. So she remained quiet, looking towards Alex and begging with her eyes for the human to not do this. But it was too late. What happened next was something so horrifying that she no longer fought the mercs at all.

“Throw that over there,” the male said and pointed to his left. Alex did so as he lifted his hand up and flicked it, ending up pointing at Alex. The sniper shot made all the students jump.

Liara watched as Alex staggered back, a spreading red stain almost dead center on her chest. She cried out and was whiplashed with the barrel of a shotgun in response to that. Her gaze never left Alex as the woman looked down at the red stain then coughed up more blood. The last sight she saw of Alex was the human falling backwards and the thud along with the laugh by the male. She was no fighter and whatever spirit she had faded into nothingness.

“Dumb bitch, wasn’t really skilled. They lied,” the captain said and spit in Alex’s direction. “Grab them, let’s get out of here. We got what we came for,” he said and prodded Liara with one foot. “That one, none of you touch her or you will find yourself lacking hands after I cut them off with a rusty, fucking spoon.”

The students and one teacher were beaten and dragged back to the shuttle the mercs had landed on the planet. They tossed them all into a corner and held their weapons on them during the transit from ground to ship. Then it was a dark cell and separated, barely fed or watered. From the sounds Liara heard, she was glad that she was given a reprieve but she had no clue why that was.

After 3 days in that dark hole of a cage, Liara and the rest were dragged out and transferred back to the shuttle, taking it back down to some building in the middle of a crumbling metropolis long forgotten. Liara recognized it as being part of the ruins on Feros. She had always wanted to come here but time and study had never permitted it and now, now she was being dragged down here. Why?

 A few hours later the entire group was picked up and forced back to the shuttle and by the hurried movement she knew something was wrong. Later on she would overhear two of the mercs wondering who the mole was that gave them up to the Alliance Special Forces. That explained why they were moved once more but now, now she was in a darker place and it smelled. She had no clue where she was this time. It was a station of some sorts but they were brought in on a shuttle and she barely got a glimpse of some neon lighting before the buildings hid it.

Trent was quite upset to lose some of his men to that woman. She couldn’t be what they said about her and he ripped the informant a new asshole over it. It was pure luck that she had gotten four of them. Jen’lan found two with holes and one with a broken neck and the Asari had gone down before them. Yerl’me’s shot was dead center though and he was extremely happy about that. The Batarian got a bonus for that shot.

Still, he complained to Vido for the wrong information given and then growled about the luck they had to catch wind of the Alliance op that almost found them. Now he was stuck in this rotten piece of shit station to wait for orders and afraid of what would happen if the Queen caught wind of their little group of slaves. He had the men patrolling, waiting for word of his shipment’s movement. Vido told him it wouldn’t be more than a few days to a week and he rolled his eyes.

“So this dumb bitch, she steps out with her gun up and Yerl pops her center mass on Trent’s command. Should have seen the look on her face,” the scruffy human merc told the group around him at the bar. He mimicked the look of surprise that Alex showed and then started to fall back, catching himself with a high pitched, drunken laugh.

Another merc punched him on the shoulder. “Shut up you fool,” the Batarian hissed but the damage was done. The bartender, a short volus swiped the counter and then jumped down off the platform. It was time for shift change anyways and he greeted the racist Batarian before waddling off. Once he was back to his room he took out a chip and placed it in a slot on his suit before bring his omni tool up and sending a message off.

_Target found. Blue Sun in warehouse district. Scholarly regards. –DZ_

Then he shut off the omni tool, pulled the chip out and set it on the metal counter. He torched it into nothing but ash before moving off to get something to eat. It was about time to return home, maybe Ath would let me go and replace him. The Volus thought nothing more about what he had just done, mind focused on his next meal.

Two relays away a console beeped once with a secure message. The almost violet colored Asari moved over and hit a button, watching the message pop up. Then she turned and her omni tool lit up and she shot a message out to someone else. That message was then sent to a third party for delivery. The Asari sighed then and rubbed her face. “May the goddess protect you and your friend little wing,” she murmured before heading back out to the louder bar, taking orders and putting work on her mind.

Neither Liara nor Trent were prepared for the reckoning that the Blue Suns were about to get once that message was sent though both would think an avenging angel rained fire down on them later on. For that moment Liara felt lighter somehow at the same time the message was relayed. She didn’t know why but she felt protected in a brief moment before that faded but it had done what it intended to do and that was give her hope that things would be ok.

Hours later a shot would ring out and then a loud, harsh voice would rant so loud that everyone heard and Liara was crestfallen. That shot had herald the end of the department head’s life. Nosra had been shot by a careless idiot that hadn’t realized Asari’s were more than just like human females. The sounds of Trent stomping down and then the single crack of a pistol told her the merc had paid for it with his life.

They all wondered what would happen, frightened by the closed rooms, the scant food and drink. With the Batarians there, they knew they were going to be sold. It was just a matter of time on waiting for the slaver transport to happen. So day by day they all prayed or wished for someone to come rescue them. And each day brought more pain, hunger and thirst to those students who were not Liara.

Kept separated, none of them knew what was going on but they could hear well enough the squabbling the mercs made and even some had a taste of the cruelty that could happen in reality. There was no doubt that the depraved minds of the Blue Suns were far worse than any harsh teacher they had ever had and each handled it in different ways. The one Salarian they had with them had gone comatose, unresponsive to anything.

Liara on the other hand, her mind kept replaying that sight of Alex after she had been shot and she mourned the death of her only friend. After one bout of crying and Trent slapping her, she was quieter when mourning for Alex. She didn’t even know what would eventually happen to her but there was an idea that someone had specifically wanted her and that frightened her as much as watching Alex fall over.

It was on the fourth day that things started to change for Liara and the rest. It started out quietly, their jailers feeding them with a wake up kick, and ended with the roar of rage that sung sweetly in Liara’s ear.

To the Blue Suns it was the last day they would have to spend here and they were more than ready to leave for another score. The bonus alone from this job would have them able to drink and whore themselves sick or get that wanted weapon they longed for. Alas that would never happen to them as hell came raining down on them in the form a resurrected avenging demon. The one merc that survived the ordeal would later swear that they had been taken out by a dead woman come back to life. They would call her “Demon” after the tale he spun of her rage.

Four days earlier an unknown Volus sent an encrypted message out. Four days before, that message was expanded, transferred to three different people. And four days before, that message came in physical visit to an Asari many systems away on a planet whose biggest fame was Serrice University.

“Morlena, you have a visitor,” a voice said after the door opened. Kraz jerked his head and stepped back, letting the Asari through to the office. He had a damn good idea of what it was about but let things roll as they were.

“Morlena,” the Asari said with a slow smile.

“Gansula,” she said in response and motioned to the chair as she rose up to get them both a drink from her private stock. “What do I owe you for this visit?”

Gansula laughed as she took the glass offered and took a sip. “Ah, I thought it would be best to bring this to you and it is free of charge. The patron that gave this over to me made sure to make note of that. And the message is: Warehouse 2104, Omega. I think you can understand what that means.”

Morlena took a swallow of the wine and watched the Asari across from her. She showed no response to the words till she lowered the glass and gave a deadly smile. “Thank your patron for me and for Alex thought I am sure they knew the results that would come from this. Still, for bringing this message to me, here.” She offered a credit chit to the Asari who took it without a word.

Gansula understood the meaning behind the chit and she tucked it away. This is why she was willing to be loyal to Morlena; the Asari knew how to pay her help or information brokers accordingly to the actions taken. Gansula rose up. “A pleasure Morlena,” she murmured and walked out, knowing Morlena was now focused on something else.

As soon as the Asari left Morlena punched a button. “Kraz gather the rest and head to the conference room.” Then she rose up and headed there, finding the plans for the area where the warehouse was. Less than two minutes later everyone had piled into the room and Alex paced like a caged lion as she waited for Morlena to talk.

“We have a target location now. It’s on Omega and that doesn’t surprise me. It’s situated in the Kenzo district. I do not believe they have been dumb enough for Aria to know about it. She might be lawless but she knows the ramifications,” Morlena said and brought up the holo of the area.

“Warehouse is here,” she said and the building lit up in red.

Alex spun and stared at the holo, pondering it and then nodding. “We’ll need a sniper with a spotter as backup. I am going in cloaked,” she said, voice as sharp as a blade.

“I can do that,” Narzun’s dual toned voice came out.

“I can spot for him,” Tad said, knowing this was not a fight he should be in the middle of.

Alex nodded. “Kraz you are going to be the demolition tank here. The more chaos you can cause and the louder you can be, the better it is for me. I’ll need the rest of you covering Kraz’s ass though. I rather have more bodies going in. Before it was just me and over fifteen of them. I do not want to overestimate them again. And I have at least one payback coming to the leader of the group. This means you do not touch him. He’s mine.”

Kraz gave a bark of a laugh and Selah grinned. “Ok, making note of that, no touching the leader, Alex wants to rip him apart herself,” Selah said and smirked. That got a smile from Alex.

It was a brief smile though as she frowned at the layout. “Most likely they will have a token guard outside. The issue is I don’t know how many they have there if this is one of their bases.” She chewed on her lip, thinking of all the possibilities. “I wish there was more data on the building. I guess some recon is due here once we get boots down on Omega.”

Each of the others looked at the displayed holo and they agreed. Without knowing where everything was they would go in blind and might get the students killed because of that lack. Each of them tried to think of something to say to reassure Alex but they knew too well what could happen and each of them did not want to even say anything for fear of setting Alex off. The human was barely holding her anger back as was.

Narzun hummed and then reached out to shift the view of the holo. “Most of these warehouses are the same because they are prefabbed.” He narrowed the view in on the building. “No upper floor but one side might have offices. That would be where they would put the students I think. There are two configurations. Offices on the ground floor here,” and the holo highlighted in green the area Narzun spoke of.

“If this is how it is set up then what I would do is have you guys come in here away from the offices,” Alex said and pointed to what was the dock. “Looks like an explosive charge would do the trick but it might be a killing alley too there.”

Narzun nodded. “I would have to be lower to be able to snipe inside the building or have a high powered rifle with thermal. Either is obtainable. The other configuration as I said has this side filled with office space on two separate floors with a catwalk running down the center of the building. That would be more feasible because I can set up there and have a view of everything.”

Alex nodded. “I can come in first with my cloak on and clean up the catwalk then you can cover me before the rest go loud. This is a bit more of a problem because then the dock is closer but it also makes an easier escape.”

Alex scowled a little bit more at the holo and then lifted her gaze up. “We leave in a few hours so prepare. I want to get Liara and the students out of there as soon as possible. It’s been…” She trailed off to think. Three days out, a day of travel… “Five days now. And given the time frame they must have either missed the SF or packed up within hours of landing on the other site. Either way, I don’t want those students in their hands any longer than a full week. How long will it take to get to this Omega?”

Morlena pondered the question a moment. “It is right off one of the relays so not long. You would have to ask Moreau for more accurate information.”

Alex nodded but it didn’t matter. She caught everyone’s eyes. “Prepare, make sure your armor and weapons are in working order.”

The rest nodded and rose up, exiting the room. Alex stayed behind, her eyes on Morlena. The Asari serenely sat there as the group exited and then sighed and waited for Alex to speak. There was no doubt in her mind what Alex wanted to say but the human surprised her none the less.

“I appreciate your help with this. If not for Liara, I would probably have died by now. I can only do the same for her. No one deserves this least her of all people,” Alex said, worry finally showing where rage and anger had been before.

“I know your feelings on this. Your honor reminds me of Turian honor, if humans can have such a thing. Besides, if you do venture into the merc world, not only will you earn a lot of credits but so will I as the broker of any deals made,” Morlena said with a faint smirk.

Alex gave a short laugh at that. “True. You will be doing the hard work in brokering deals and work for us. And I am sure you have no limits on contacts to finding work. Your offer and suggestion surprised me a lot. I never thought about it till you said something. I mean I have the Alliance but I am sort of in hiatus with them right now till they recall me.”

The Asari matron nodded and then gestured to the door. “Go on. I know you want to go rescue Liara. We will talk more once you get back.”

Alex nodded and pushed back from the table, getting up from her seat. “That we will,” she said before she exited the room and left the contemplative Asari wondering of the resulting body count once Alex was done with the Suns.


	11. Chapter 11

The day started out normal for the Suns. The night shift curled up in their beds, the day shift started their assignments and their captain was pissed as usual to be sitting there in wait of the Batarians. Trent continued to be in a bad mood due not only to having to wait here but also to the stupidity of his own group.

That fool, Gren, had a thing for women. He liked to hurt them and saw Asari as blue women but had never had the opportunity till now. Gren didn’t think anything wrong as he assaulted the older Asari. Her weak biotic throw though, that angered him and before he realized it he shot her, a perfect smoking hole in her tentacled head. The snarling roar of the captain had him freezing in his tracks and he spun around, holstering his weapon as the captain came into view.

“You god damn fool. They are our credits and you just shot one of them. What the fuck were you thinking you jackass?” Trent shoved his face into Gren’s, the anger clear as the message he was giving the male.

“She’s nothing but trash and the bitch tried to hurt me so I hurt her back!” That was the idiot response given in return.

Trent narrowed his eyes at the man. He had enough and the next thing they all knew Trent had drawn his phalanx and pressed it between Gren’s eyes, pulling the trigger and killing the insane human. Then he spun on the rest. “Well get back to fucking work you muthafuckers or I’ll do to you what I did to him!”

That message was loud and clear and the rest scrambled out except for two poor fools not fast enough. “You two,” Trent said and pointed to the newer members. “Toss the bodies.”

They both nodded in silent fear and went to Gren first, lifting his body up, scrambling out. Since Trent hadn’t told them how to dispose of the bodies, they tossed them into the alley behind the warehouse for the vermin to clean up. Then they came back and did the same for the Asari, tossing her down next to Gren and rushing back to the warehouse. Neither was much good after that for any duty and the shrunk away from Trent anytime he was near them. That saved the life of one of them.

Things got quiet in the warehouse for a few days after that. All of them were afraid to piss off Trent any more than Gren had in the first place. The best they did was kick awake the group of slaves and give them some food and water then left them the rest of the day. Two guards were assigned to patrol the hall where the prisoners were kept. A third watched over the prize they had in Liara, all waiting for the Hegemony to come and take them off their hands.

That fourth day started out like the rest, quiet but there was a message that said to get the prisoners ready in the next day for retrieval. That energized the Blue Suns in the warehouse and Trent ordered them to clean up the trash left behind and then go back to their posts. After a few hours of hard labor most of the warehouse, while still dirty, didn’t have trash around it. At that point the guard shift changed and new snipers went up on the catwalk, the old snipers took over for the guards for the common prisoner and Yerl’me stood guard at the door to the room Liara was held in.

Gus was waiting in the pilot’s seat for them to board, his fingers itching to fly away. Morlena had giving him a heads-up and he got Kelea going in Engineering, getting the power up. Moreau double checked to make sure all lights were green as the group arrived and boarded. By the silence he knew that whatever would happen was going to change things. He itched for that to happen. He was sick of just being a carrier, moving stuff back and forth. He wanted a fight; it was bred into him for generations. Moreau’s had flown whatever they could in the early wars and that tradition had followed the current generation.

His brother though, he was the black sheep but that couldn’t be helped. Geoff had mild Vrolik syndrome and no one in the family had anything bad to say about that. Sometimes the dice were not in it. Unfortunately, his only son, Jeff inherited it from his father. Geoff doted on his fragile son though, experienced enough to know that even with the genetic issues, his son was still like any other child.

Gus was brought out of his thoughts by the silence arrival of the group and he turned to watch them make their way down to their quarters. After a minute Alex came on and Gus almost recoiled at the look on her face. He was reminded of a passage he had heard one time.

“And I looked, and behold a pale horse; and her name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him,” he murmured which got Alex’s attention.

Alex shifted her attention from the ship to the pilot who was murmuring a verse she barely remembered. A quick shift and she was sitting next to him, trying to recall the verse and then giving a smirk to Gus. “Not that I mind, but why would you compare me to one of the Four Horsemen?”

Selah rushed up on to the ship and closed the hatch, turning to let Gus know they were ready when she spotted Alex sitting there. Both looked at her and then at each other and laughed. She looked between them, confused. “What?”

Alex shook her head. “Don’t mind us, we are sharing a joke only humans would understand Selah.”

She glanced at the two again and shook her head slowly. “Ok,” she said then turned to head back to her bunk. A snort of amusement from Alex followed her back.

Gus sighed and gave a glance to Alex. “The way you came on to the ship, like ever step was smoking. You looked like the Grim Reaper was going to visit someone soon.” He glanced away and hailed the port for a takeoff berth then turned back to Alex who had a rather thoughtful look on her face.

“I intend on making sure the Blue Suns know not to mess with me or anyone I consider a friend ever again,” she finally answered after giving it careful thought.

“Ah. Well then, let’s make sure you and your crew get there in one piece, yes?” He grinned at her and then was given permission to take off.

“Did you get the storage deck refitted?” Alex rose up and paused to wait for the answer.

Gus just waved her off. “Yup, got a bunch of cots ready for them and there is compatible food for the students once you get them back. Even hauled a doc. She’s waiting in the lounge.” Gus started the accent and Alex went to see who this doc was.

Alex arrived to find a human woman sitting there much to her surprise. She silently studied the woman for a minute. The Doc sat there relaxed with an actual book in her hands. Her hair was cut short, about chin length, slightly curled. It was a pale blond in color, unusual for this day and age and Alex might have actually mistaken grey for blond. She decided to step further into the lounge to access the doctor.

“Hello, I am Alex Stefanos, captain to the Vengeance crew. Gus said we had a doctor, I just didn’t expect that doctor to be human of all things. I have a mixed crew, is this going to be an issue?” Alex’s eyes narrowed a bit.

The woman looked up after marking her page with a well-worn bookmark and then tilted her head slightly to the side as she in turn studied Alex. “Caro Seymor,” she said easily, barely a hint of any accent. “And I would not be here if I didn’t have some knowledge of alien biology,” she added, surety thick in her voice.

Caro found the commander of the ship rather blunt and abrasive and it made her smile inwardly. The responses she got in turn told her the woman before her was no one’s fool and that reassured her. Alex for the most part just stood there, her arms crossed as she all but glared down at the doctore.

“Let me assure you I would not be here, Alex, if Morlena did not want me here. There are very few with my skill with any biology around. Asari could care less, Krogan don’t heal themselves, Salarian have doctors of their own whom they jealously guard and the Turrians still have hang-ups from the First Contact War. I am amazed that any of them cooperate with me when they come in to the clinic.” A small, sardonic smile was added which gave Alex warning.

“Ah, I see. Well since we are on the same page there, try not to get yourself shot for saying something wrong,” she smirked at Caro and then offered her hand. “Welcome to the mix I guess. Did Morlena give you any information?”

Caro shook the hand offered and then nodded. “She said she was the backer for a new merc company and they would need a medic. Someone who can handle themselves in a sick bay and on the ground which is why she came to me. I use to be a medic in the Alliance till the FCW took my leg away.” To illustrate what she meant, Caro lifted her leg up where a prosthesis was attached to her lower leg.

Alex blinked and then nodded. “That won’t slow you down will it?”

Caro shook her head. “I run a 4 and half minute mile if you care…?”

Alex laughed. “Then Doc, I would say welcome aboard. Most likely you will be caring for an aggravated Krogan who likes to become a wall. And maybe me occasionally. The rest are smart enough to avoid live fire.”

Caro smirked. “So Morlena said. My… bond mate can be a bit secretive at times.”

Alex’s brows shot up into her hairline at that and before she could say anything a squeal from the doorway had her jerking around only to see Selah jumping over the couch and giving Caro a hug. “Caro, why didn’t you say you were coming? Morlena know you are here?”

Caro hugged the younger Asari back as Alex glared at Selah. “Because and yes,” she answered then smirked. “I think your commander wants to open a can of whoop ass on you for some reason. She could explain the shift in attitude you have though.”

Selah almost jumped off the couch but a laugh from Caro had her freezing instead as she slowly turned her head. The glare Alex shot her had her huddling against Caro briefly.

“Seriously? Your sister is mated to a human woman of all things and you just had to be a cocky little shit to me at your sister’s bar?” Alex’s eyes darkened to an icy blue and Selah shifted against Caro.

Caro slapped Selah’s hand lightly. “Are you kidding me? Wait… no. I am not surprised you did that actually.” She then turned her attention to Alex. “She bit off more than she could chew, of that I am certain. What did you do to her to get her to behave?”

Selah could hear now that she was being teased by Caro and then almost fell off the couch when Alex continued the teasing. “Well, now that you mention it. She tried to hit me and I sacked her ass on the floor 3 times before it got through her overly thick skull that she couldn’t beat me, biotics or not.”

Caro laughed. “I will have to ask Morlena to send me the vid of that but I knew it would take something like that to get her attitude to change.”

Selah huffed at Caro. “I see how you are,” she said with a frown which only made Caro laugh.

“Morlena trusts that I will keep you and the rest in one piece with my skills Sel. She trusts that you and the rest will cover my ass like tar in a firefight too. Otherwise her temper might just explode like that one time you put hierkch in her soup.”

When Caro mentioned the additions she made to her sister’s soup one time, she grimaced. “Yea, that wasn’t the best time after. She purpled my rear for that.”

Alex just shook her head as she saw finally the true facet to Selah sitting there comfortably with Caro. “Well this makes things easier for the rest of us knowing we have someone that is handy after a firefight. What weapons do you prefer because I won’t leave you defenseless here.”

“Shotgun and an assault rifle. Prefer the power packed inferno rounds just so I don’t have to watch ‘em bleed to death,” she said with a drawl.

Alex nodded and arched a brow to Selah. “Oh, ok. I will get those for her. I don’t think we have any modded shotguns… unless you brought your Lance?” Selah gave Caro a questioning look.

“Yea the Lance is in my quarters. So is my armor. The assault rifle is the only thing I actually lack.” Caro then turned to Alex. “No problem with me, I did come outfitted for ground pounding if need be. And honestly after a week with the Sun’s the students will need immediate help.”

Alex nodded. “Ok Doc, get suited up then. We’ll get you a rifle at least. No promises it will be what you are used to, at least for now, but you’ll at least have a bit longer range. Selah, she goes with you and Henry as back up to Kraz. Doc, I don’t want you in the firefight at all but I rather have a safety margin for error incase Kraz bites off more than he can chew. Selah, let him know. I’ll have to modify the plan to include the Doc in it. That will come after some recon of the warehouse.”

Selah nodded and Caro smiled. “Well then, I better go get dressed.”

Selah rose up and left with Caro not far behind her. Alex turned to the port window and sighed softly. She hoped things would be ok but had no doubts something would go wrong so she was sort of glad that Morlena entrusted her to Caro’s wellbeing. Turning, she headed back up to the co-pilot chair and plopped down in it.

Moreau glanced at her a moment and then chuckled. “Met the Doc I see. She’s an interesting character. She is the single reason Morlena trusts me and you as well as she does.”

Alex glanced over at Moreau curiously. “What do you know?”

Moreau shrugged. “Enough, but I will leave that for Caro or Morlena to tell you.”

Alex nodded and then brought up the console before her. “So how long till we reach Omega?”

Moreau flicked his gaze over the interface and then hit a few holographic buttons. “Hmm, about five hours after we hit the relay which we got another twenty minutes before.”

Alex nodded and then shut down the interface before her and got up. “Well I am going to catch a nap. Wake me up when we are a hour out ok?”

Gus nodded and waved her off, going back to keeping an eye on their course. Alex hit her cabin and rolled into the skinny bed, letting sleep take over quickly. Four hours later she was roused by the beeping of the coms and she hit the button. “Yea?”

“We are a hour out Alex, just letting you know,” came Gus’s voice and Alex yawned.

“Alright. Thanks.” Then she shut off the coms and groaned as she sat up.

The woman rubbed her hands over her face and then stood, stretching out and feeling her back relax fiber by fiber before moving to get dressed in the underarmor suit and then putting on the rest of the hardsuit. Finally the only thing left was her recon hood which she tucked away, replacing it with the helm instead. She wasn’t sniping but would need a bit more information than the hood could provide.

When Alex came out of the cabin the rest were ready and waiting in the lounge. Kraz was rubbing a cloth over his prized shotgun and grunted to her when she entered. Selah was talking quietly with Caro and both nodded to her before going back to their conversation. Henry was making sure his pistol was in working order while Narzun and Tad quietly discussed how to handle the sniper/spotter roles they had come into.

Alex looked at them all a moment before sitting down to face them. “Ok so we are going to recon the area first and from there the original plan stands. Kraz will demo the front door and you guys will draw their attention. Narzun and Tad will be positioned to give you guys over watch. Selah, your biotics will help keep the morons off Kraz’s back and Henry you also will be watching his six.”

Alex turned to Caro. “Doc I want you to stay back behind Henry and Selah but if it comes down to it, I won’t stop you from joining in on the fight if need be. I’ll start on the top, taking down the guards on the catwalk. Once that is done Narzun you and Tad move to the catwalk to cover everyone. Set your coms to one-one-nine-seven-whiskey-charlie. Code phrase is ‘in the black’. When you hear that, clean the mercs out. Got it?”

Everyone nodded as Alex caught their eyes in turn and she smiled though it was more a deadly type of smile that let everyone know those Suns were about to find hell on the station. “We will arrive in about thirty minutes so make sure you are prepped.”

Alex watched as the rest started to recheck everything and she pulled her blade out, making sure it was fine. Satisfied, she took the remainder of the time to make sure her pistol had the silencer in working order and then walked out. She wouldn’t need her sniper rifle or the smg. The Karpov was enough, that and the blade she carried. Soon enough Moreau let them know they were in the process of docking and Alex waited at the door for that to finish so she could exit.


	12. Chapter 12

Once Alex exited she was blocked by a Krogan and her eyes narrowed. Lucky for him, he wasn’t wearing Blue Sun armor otherwise she might have taken him apart. Instead she stood there briefly before moving only to have the Krogan hold his hand up.

“Hold on human. I have a message for you from Aria,” the Krogan said which stopped Alex cold.

She whipped around, her hand on her pistol though that’s the only threatening gesture she made. “Yea, what is it then?”

The Krogan laughed at her in appreciation. “If you weren’t human,” he said with a grin. “Aria asks that you try and keep the mess centered to the warehouse and that she has information for you.” He sent a packet of data to Alex’s omni tool and it beeped. “Good hunting.”

That set Alex aback a little and she decided to give the info she was given a glance over. A soft laugh came from her after seeing the data and she jerked her head to the rest of the group. “Helm’s up.”

The group hired a few air cars and in a half hour they were within range of the warehouse. In a rundown building a block away Alex gathered them up and began to talk about their roles. “Well apparently Aria is not happy with the Suns at all. We have all the data we need though I won’t take it at face value so I am going to do a recon to verify things. Only worrying thing is that Aria said someone would be picking them up later today so we need to wait till then or do this before that happens. Any ideas?”

Narzun pondered the data a moment and frowned. “I don’t like it. Let’s get them out of their as soon as we can. If this data is correct it’s the Hegemony that is coming and I rather not tangle just yet with those Batarians.” The rest nodded in agreement when he looked at them and then tilted his head slightly towards Alex.

“I happen to agree. Slimy bastards that they maybe but I rather not be caught between them and the Suns right now. Not till I have more backup at least,” she said with a lop-sided grin. “So I am going to head out now, stay in place till I get back and stay hidden. I don’t have to tell you what to do if someone happens to find you. Kill them or capture, I don’t care.”

Alex put the helm on and felt it seal up tight and then she saluted before turning the cloak on and disappearing from everyone’s view. They had no idea how she managed to exit but it was to be expected from someone with her training. Alex kept to the shadows that were in abundance in the alley, making good time while avoiding all the trash. At least she was till she found the starting to decompose bodies.

She recognized the Asari one right away. Nosra had been wearing that shirt the night they had been kidnapped. Anger flared up in her head at the way the Asari had been dumped out here and the Blue Sun corpse only inflamed that into a rage. She set her jaw tight and turned the cloak back on, promising to come back once she was done with the Suns.

“Base, found one dead in ally behind warehouse. After clean up, retrieve,” she said shortly over the coms and went silent after.

With the help of the cloak, she found the guards and waited for the time when they should be changing. When that time came, they changed and she was satisfied that the information was correct in that regard. She crept up higher and counted 4 on the catwalk. Then she made sure there were 3 guards patrolling the rooms where the captives were.

She found one guard in front of a single room and that made her mind up where Liara was. There would be no reason otherwise for a single guard at that door if not for a singularly important prisoner. She counted about 20 in total and then managed to catch a glance at the leader of the Sun’s crew.

He was a huge man that the dark hadn’t been kind with. An ugly man use to others doing as he said. A scar crossed over his face from jaw, over his nose, and to his temple. It left his nose crooked from the break. Alex memorized his face so when it came time, she would repay him. As quietly as she entered, she left and headed back without giving a glance to Nosra’s corpse.

The rest waited for her to return and then when she tersely reported the corpse, they wondered who it was, whether it was Liara or the teachers or another student’s. None of them knew but they knew no matter what or who it was, Alex was going to be pissed. Kraz rechecked his shotgun and then he and Henry went over the explosives they would use as a wakeup call for the mercs.

Of all the crew, Caro was the most relaxed, watching the rest twitch through half lidded eyes. She was leaning against the wall, arms crossed over her chest and relaxing because later on none of them would be able to relax till it was all over. Sadness hit her that she couldn’t save one but she pulled her rifle out and rechecked it briefly, collapsing it back and over her shoulder when Alex arrived.

Alex wasted no time. “Ok, we are going to go in and hit them hard, cause confusion. The intel was correct. Guards just changed so it will be a few hours before they rotate again. There are 4 on the catwalk, which is new but that is why I wanted to do some recon beforehand. There are 3 patrolling the student’s rooms, I assume that’s where the students are at least. One guard is stationary in front of one room and we will assume Liara is there.”

They all nodded and Kraz pulled his shotgun out again. “Ok boss. We’ll go get ready to give the Sun’s a wake up. Just use the phrase when you are ready.” Selah, Henry and Caro nodded, each pulling out their favored weapon and following Kraz.

“We will go get into position as over watch. I think the best location is here across from the warehouse,” Narzun said and pointed to a good location. “It lets me locate and find anyone inside.”

“There is one merc, an ugly human male with a scar across his face. Leave him to me,” Alex said as she pulled her helm back on.

“Will do,” Narzun answered and he and Tad left for their position.

“Team one in position,” Kraz’s voice came over the coms.

Alex made her way back, this time taking to the roof of the warehouse and creeping over to one of the roof access doors. Infrared told her the guard was away, with their back turned so she carefully opened it up and ducked her head down to check. The guard was a Batarian, his back to her and not wearing his helmet. Smiling she grabbed ahold of the edge and rolled forwards, letting herself hang from the edge a moment before letting go and dropping silently behind the Batarian.

Her blade came out quietly as she came up behind him and then she struck, her arm wrapping around his forehead and her blade digging into his throat and jerking forwards, slicing open flesh as blood sprayed out. She held him a moment as his struggles ceased and then carefully lowered him to the floor as his body continued to expel blood lethargically.

She glanced around on the catwalk and saw one walking up and down the path and off in the darkness a second waited on one of the platforms and from where she stood, she was certain a third waited at the other end of the catwalk. Since the one guard was walking back towards her she slipped into the shadows and her cloak went active again as she waited.

The human male came walking up, his rifle pointed down. By the time he realized that his friend was down Alex acted, coming up behind, jerking his head back and plunging her blade into his throat before ripping it forwards in another spray of gore, this time deep red as the cut artery made itself known with the pulsing spray. She lowered him quietly down and then glanced around.

“Teams one and two, ready on my mark,” came Alex’s voice over the coms. They all got ready, Narzun following Alex’s path and watching with appreciation as she took down both guards with ease. He turned his sights on the guard that wasn’t across from Alex and gave a click over the coms.

“Do it,” came Alex’s voice and he pressed the trigger on his sniper rifle, watching as the bullet quietly took out the merc.

“Down,” was his reply.

“We are in the black,” came Alex’s response and then the Blue Sun’s world turned upside down.

The first they actually understood they were under attack was the moment the front door blew inwards with a whump of explosives. In the confusion Alex made her way across the catwalk and took out the last guard with a perfect shot to the head with the Karpov. It was a quiet wuff of sound as the guard’s head developed a hole in it.

Kraz and Henry set up the explosives at the door on the hinges and in a way that would send the door blown inwards and then scampered back and waited for the call. Selah and Caro waited behind them with Caro watching their backs. When they heard the call, Caro hunkered down and Kraz laughed as he set off the charges, watching as the door exploded inwards then leapt up and charged ahead.

Henry cursed as he scrambled to follow the Krogan, Kraz’s shotgun making short work of a stunned Sun and got the others startled enough that they started moving after the gleeful Krogan. Caro took up to the rear and glanced around the edge of the door to see Henry taking out another Sun. Selah threw her arm out and encased one of the Suns coming up behind Kraz in a biotic field. Caro lifted the rifle up and took careful aim, killing the Blue Sun in the stasis field with a pull of the trigger.

There was about 10 mercs on the ground floor of the warehouse. In the first minute and half, four of them were killed. In two more minutes half of the rest were down which left the guards on the second floor, the merc leader and two canny mercs keeping them pinned down and the one guarding Liara. All of them ducked behind various things as they were fired upon.

Alex made her way back over to the drop to the second floor, startling one merc who spun around only to get a blade in his chest thanks to Alex. She tugged it out smoothly and cloaked again before any of the other mercs could get a bead on her. From the second story Alex caused mayhem and chaos with her pistol and knife and took the pressure off the rest on the ground floor. Still she had the one guard that guarded Liara and then the two- no make that one as the other got his head splattered by Narzun.

The merc leader shouted in rage and that set fire to Alex as she strode to the edge, hopped over and down one story and startled the one guard that was before Liara’s room. Alex didn’t even look as she thrust her blade into the merc’s throat and twisted, letting the blood spray over her armor. She caught the merc leader’s eyes as she then tugged the blade out. At that moment Narzun took out the other merc pinning them and it was just the leader there alone.

Everyone left him alone, knowing Alex would take care of him. Kraz motioned for Selah and Caro to come up as he and Henry made for the captive’s rooms, going through them one at a time and finding more than just the students and Liara. Narzun stayed put, keeping his scope on the merc leader just in case he tried something.

Alex whipped the blade down and let the blood splatter to the floor before sheathing it. Then she pulled her helm off with a dark grin as she walked with purpose towards the merc. “Think you can kill me you touvlo? Think you can broker one of my best friends as a piece of flesh to the Batarians? Ai gamisou! I will take down your whole organization before I will allow that to happen.”

Trent watched as his entire team was taken out like they were children and useless. Who would dare to attack the Blue Suns? He would make sure that retribution was his. At least that was his thoughts till the human female removed her helm and he saw a dead woman walking. “Maybe they were right after all,” he mused and gave a dirty grin towards Alex. “Come on bitch, let’s see just how skilled you are!” And he motioned to her with his fingers.

Alex dropped her helm and continued to walk up to him till she was in range of his fist. Her eyes flashed icily towards Trent as he sent a haymaker at her head. Trent knew two things after that, one he might have broken his hand and two, he was in big trouble since the only thing that actually happened was the woman’s head turning to the side after the hit and then she whipped her head back around to him.

“Last chance to hit anyone,” she said with the fury of a snow storm in her voice.

Trent threw his fist at her again and she ducked under it, grabbing his wrist and then twisting it behind his back and pushing him away. “Not face enough are you without a sniper as back up hmm?”

Everyone watched as Alex danced a deadly dance with the merc leader. There was no doubt in their minds how it would end and the only question was when it would end. Caro paid no attention to what was going on as she assessed every prisoner they had. One of them was actually a Blue Sun recruit it looked like and he was out like a light so Caro paid him no attention.

Eventually she was sure everyone was ok except for a few that had been beaten. They would need more attention but she couldn’t do that till they got back to the ship. Liara, when she got to her refused her attention as she made her way out of the room to watch and see a miracle standing before her. Alex was alive. She leaned heavily against Kraz as she watched, the Krogan not minding the added weight at all as he belittled the merc and cheered on Alex.

 

Liara huddled in the corner of her room when the explosion rocked the place and the gunfire told her someone was hitting the Blue Suns. It was then at that very moment hope blossomed once more for her. Still she huddled in the corner and waited till the gun fire had died down, one last shot being heard from a distance and then the grunt of a body falling outside of her door.

She heard a familiar voice speaking at that point and with a gasp she crawled over to the door just as it was opening and an armored human came in. “Think you can kill me you touvlo? Think you can broker one of my best friends as a piece of flesh to the Batarians? Ai gamisou! I will take down your whole organization before I will allow that to happen.”

“Liara T’soni?” The armored human asked and Liara nodded as she watched out the door as Alex’s figure approached the merc leader.

“I… I am ok,” she said and batted away the medic’s hand only to accept it as help up to her feet. She only had eyes for the fight that was going on, watching as Trent took a swing and hit Alex. Liara winced because she had glimpsed of the fury in Alex’s eyes at that. “Oh dear,” she said as with Caro’s help she made it over to Kraz and leaned on him. The Krogan chuckled as he watched the fight.

They all watched as Alex dished out punishment to the Blue Sun merc, watched as she effortlessly handled everything he gave to her, taking her hits but returning them twofold to Trent. Liara worried because she knew that Trent was likely to have some back up and her hand tightened around Caro’s.

Trent kicked the woman in the gut and managed to send her flying away from him as he pushed back, his back against the wall. He had enough and pulled out a blade of his own, holding it in reverse. It was time to end this charade with the woman he had killed before and put her down for good. He lunged for her as she got up, thrusting towards her throat with his knife.

What he got instead of his knife meeting flesh was Alex’s hand wrapping around his wrist and then her shifting to the side as she spun, controlling his arm and flipping him to his back, and then she shoved his fist into his own throat with both hands. Trent gargled as the blade pierced his throat and blood welled up and out of his mouth as he drowned in his own body fluid.

Alex watched as he died and then got up, pulling the blade from his throat and looking at it. It was a better knife than she had so she wiped it off on his hair and took it. Then she turned around, rage slowly dying as the rest clapped at her. Her head shook before she walked over to Liara who threw herself at Alex and hugged her, not caring at the human was covered in blood.

“Oh my… I thought you were dead,” Liara said and held Alex tightly, never so glad in her life till that moment.

“I… was out for a few days,” Alex said, not sure how to explain how she took a shot that should have killed her. When Liara hugged her tighter she winced, realizing she had taken some damage. “Ow,” she said as Caro gave her a look and came over to check on the wound.

“A through and through, it has already stopped bleeding so I will take another look when we get back to the ship,” Caro said. “But there is more than just the students here I think. And some children,” Caro’s voice turned livid at that and Alex straightened up.

“Ok I need two to retrieve Nosra’s body from the alley. Kraz? Henry?” Both nodded and left. “Gus, bring the Vengeance in and let Morlena know we have more than just the students coming along. Have her find a place to hold children and adults. We’ll have to figure out where they came from and who’s missing their kids.” Alex heard Moreau’s replied agreement and then turned to the rest.

“Great job guys, this is more than I hoped for. You all did well, followed orders and kept to your assigned tasks.” She heard the Vengeance powering down outside the building at the dock. “Let’s get everyone loaded and out of here.”

Narzun met them at the ship with Tad behind him, watching solemnly as the students and children were escorted on to the ship and into the hold where they had cots set up. “It’s a good thing we don’t have but a few hours to get back because it is going to be a tight squeeze in there.”

Selah and Caro came out after a few minutes with a duffle full of weapons and a grin. “Well they had better weapons than brains I’ll have to say,” Caro said and held the duffle up. “Some creds too and Oh, this datapad was on the leader. I think you might want to see it.” She tossed it to Alex and then headed on the ship with Selah.

Alex gave a bemused look to Caro and shook her head as she glanced down at the data pad. It was the most recent correspondences between Trent and one of the Blue Suns leaders, a guy named Vido Santiago. There were ordered to head out the Terminus main base and that there were plans in motion for the Blue Suns to be taken over by Vido. Alex didn’t care at this point, a dead merc leader was a dead merc to her.

The last bit of info she got from the datapad concerned Omega and its leader Aria. With a smirk she sent off the info to the Krogan whom had given her the intel and then got on the ship. A minute later her omni tool beeped just as Gus told her there was someone waiting on the coms for her. She headed up to the cockpit and then turned on the coms.

“This is Stefano.”

“Ah, Ms. Stefano. Thank you for the information you sent Tagar. The debt you’ve acquired from me had been repaid. Good luck,” the voice said and then cut off. Alex gave a look to Gus and he smirked back.

“You mean to tell me you didn’t recognize Aria’s voice? She sounded rather pissed to have her attempt at a debt backfire on her.” He said with a laugh.

“She should be glad I sent that info to her at all. It talked about the Blue Suns taking her out and taking over Omega. I think it was worth more than just the intel she gave me,” Alex said with a shrug.

“I think she will use your attack to her advantage and cower them into thinking that. Twist it to make them think she sent you in,” Gus pointed out.

Alex realized at that moment that perhaps there was more to Gus than she thought and gave him an appraising look a moment. “Hmm, when you put it that way…,” she said and trailed off as Caro told her to get her ass to her med bay. “Well, see you later,” Alex said as she got up.

It didn’t take Caro long to clean the wound and see it was healing rather quickly. Morlena told her that Alex was different and until that point she just hadn’t seen it. So she sent Alex off to get changed and cleaned up and went down to visit the cargo hold. Most of the worse off prisoners were lying on cots and she went to them one at a time. When she was done she went to the rest, checking them out and finding most in good if not undernourished condition.

From there she wrote up her report for ‘Lena and sent it off for the Asari to read before going back to keep an eye on the children. Most were confused and too young to understand what was going on. A few of the older children knew better and understood they were far better off where they were now. They were more talkative.

Caro learned some of them had been sold to the mercs and others had been snatched up. When Alex arrived, one of the youngest whimpered and scrambled towards her, locking his arms around her leg and she froze, her eyes wide in horror. At least that’s what happened at first before the child started to mumble in a language none of them knew except for Alex. She picked up the boy and started talking to him softly, her shoulders slumping briefly.

“What did he say Alex?” Caro’s voice was soft.

“His mother is dead, killed by men in blue armor and then he and his sister were dragged off by them and separated. He’s really not clear on what happened to his sister at all since she escaped right before they were loaded on the ship. He’s really not old enough to understand where home was either. But he did tell me his name was Gavin Kallas. I think I will have to call Dad because this kid talks old school Greek and Dad would be able to tell me where he might be from.” Alex sighed as the little boy rested his head on her shoulder and murmured something else.

Caro chuckled as she offered a ration bar to one of the older children. “That might be for the best.”

Alex realized at that point that the little boy was not letting her go at all and rolled her eyes as Caro smirked at her. “Yea, yea. Laugh now. I’ll get you back later,” Alex promised.


	13. Epilogue

So, here I am. I have so much more than I had a year ago or even two years ago. My eyes have been opened to the evils the world and yes, even the universe, can hold. I’ve seen courage under fire; I’ve felt that courage from myself. I’ve seen rage and anger, pain and despair. It’s all come from me at some point even. And I have friends, an unusual family and I enjoy every moment of it honestly.

After killing that merc leader, I felt happy… truly happy that I was able help Liara. She is my friend and there was nothing I could do but help her. So I sit here now with a sleeping child in my arms and try to put my thoughts into order. Gavin is such a dear boy and thank the gods that I was there because there was no one that would have understood him but me.

From what the other children say, he came to them about a week and half before we came in like avenging angels and saved them. None of them could understand him but one of the oldest children, an Asari whose name is Velm, protected him as much as she could. She took the brunt of their anger against the mischievous boy. That little girl has fire in her. I will be pleased to see how she grows, if I ever gain that time.

We had half dozen children to watch over at the moment because none of us knew where they came from till we talked to them. Three of them had extended family who we contacted and those were either surprised or very concerned when they learned their nieces or nephews had been sold or stolen from their family. One even rewarded me for getting their niece back since he had learned her parents had been killed previously and was at a loss to have what remained of his family back.

That money went shipping off the other children. Narkul Razovin was a Turian of means and I told him how the money would be used. The Turian actually smiled at me when I told him there were a few children whose families couldn’t afford to get their family back. When he learned of that he actually invested more and when he learned of the merc group I was starting… its damn strange to have a Turian back you, let me tell you.

Most of them hate humans; it’s only been just shy of two years after the First Contact war. This Turian though, he understood better especially after he came to retrieve his niece himself. Xandra was one of the younger children; I judged her to be around Gavin’s age which is to say about 4 years old. She and Gavin played a lot and he happened to arrive during one of their play time tussles. To say the least, I’ve never seen a Turian look so confused before.

Narkul blinked and then came further into the room after Kraz left him there. Around him where about nine children of various races. There was even one Krogan child being entertained by Selah with drawing. Gavin was on the ground laughing as Henry tickled him and Xandra jumped on Henry before he gently dumped her down on the floor next to the boy. Before long those two were wrestling with Henry tickling them both. And Narkul finally moved towards me.

“This I did not expect,” he said after offering his clawed hand to me.

I smiled back at him. “This is what happens when you take children of various species and let them play together. They understand better than us ‘adults’ that there are no differences but in attitude. Even Gnash there plays gently with his less tougher playmates,” I said nodding to the one Krogan child.

“I… am beginning to see this,” Narkul answered, still confused and yet inordinately pleased at the same time. “You are different than most of the humans I’ve met,” he added and glanced over at me as he rested against the wall.

I gave a shrug. “I’ve seen evil and it’s not relegated to just one species. It should be treated the same no matter what and burned out.”

At that point Gavin came running over to me and I picked him up only to have Xandra tackle my leg and hug it. I carefully lifted her up and smiled. “Xandra, this is your uncle Narkul,” I told her and she looked shyly over to him.

Narkul chuckled and then flexed his mandibles in surprise when Xandra followed Gavin over. He made himself less imposing as he smiled at his niece. “She’s right, your mommy was my sister. Your grandparents would love to meet you Xandra.”

The Turian girl stared at him a moment, a very long moment, not very sure. She then looked at me and I smiled. That was enough for her and she held her arms out to him, wanting to be picked up. Narkul obliged her and lifted her gently up into his arms where she hugged him.

“You have a couple of cousins dying to meet you Xandra,” he said and hugged her back, looking over her to me with gratitude. “Thank you.”

Gavin babbled something and I glanced down at him, responding. “Yes that is her uncle. She has to go back to her family.” Then I said it again so he could understand. He leaned his head against me and watched as his playmate clung to her only family. I have to say, the boy was a lot smarter than anyone, but me, could see.

“Fwend?” He said which surprised me and I looked down at him.

“Yes, friend,” I said so he could understand. In the week these kids had been around I had to readjust my own understand enough that the children could relate. It was something I had never experienced at all. I had two older siblings, Daren and Melissa. I was the baby of the family. Neither of them had settled down yet so babies and children were not an experience I’ve ever had till now.

My omni tool beeped and I glanced down, brows furrowed slight. “Ok well if you want to stick around a bit more, you can talk to Selah there about what happened. Xandra was seen by a doctor and she’s only got minor malnourishment issues. Caro,” I nodded towards the other human woman, “she can explain a bit better to you than me. Unfortunately I have a very irate father to talk to now, my own.”

Narkul laughed. “Maybe you should stay in touch with him better?” The Turian understood right away what I meant and I smirked.

“If I wasn’t so busy fielding children,” I responded back with and got up. Gavin tightened his arms around me and I gave a nod to Narkul before walking out of the room. Still, I was afraid of what my own father would have to say to me. Holding Gavin comforted me somewhat though.

I went into the office that was now mine and sat down in the chair, letting Gavin sit in my lap while I hit the com button. My father’s weathered face came up and I smiled faintly at him. “Dad.”

“Alexandra Lysandra Stefanos, do not ever do that again,” he said sternly, making me feel like I was 6 again. There was that same glower from him that I use to get after getting into a fight or causing mischief. That faded suddenly and he smiled. It was then that I knew my father had already forgiven me.

“Sorry. Things have been… hectic,” I said, searching for a neutral word.

Gavin pointed to the screen and asked if that was my grandfather and my father laughed. “No child, I am her father,” he said in the same language and then eyed me and finally understood what I was going to ask him.

I nodded. “His parents are dead, killed by mercs. I am just trying to see if there might be any extended family. The regional dialect, you know more about it than I do as the governor where they might have settled.”

“Ah. Well it’s from the south countryside. Sitia most likely. I know of a group of colonist that was from there. They settled… damn, where did they settle?” Akakios shuffled the papers on his desk around, looking for the information as he pushed his glasses up.

“I can give you time to look Dad,” I said hesitantly. I knew his day was busy but finding if Gavin had any family was priority too.

“No, no. Its ok Alex. Ah, here it is.” He looked at me in that way that said I was in trouble and I sighed softly. Nothing like a parent to make you feel like you are young again. “What’s the child’s name?”

“Gavin Kallas,” I said.

Akakios winced and glanced up at Gavin then me. “Well that might be problematic,” he said and leaned back in his chair, giving me an appraising look.

“Why?” I tilted my head slightly, giving my father a questioning look and he folded his hands before him after setting his glasses down on the desk.

“If he is who I think he is, his father is a criminal.” Akakios said and sighed.

That made me frown a bit. “Should it matter? He is not his father.”

Akakios smiled gently at me. “You truly are living up to your name.” Then he cleared his throat and typed something into his console. “Trent Kallas has been indicted into over two dozen counts of the worst any human can do. You name it, he’s done it.”

That startled me so much that my father stopped talking to give me a confused look. He opened his mouth a moment then closed it and gave me a patient look as I tried to understand. “Well, I can tell you right now that he’s dead,” I finally was able to say, still startled at what my father said.

“Tell me about it kori,” he said gently.

“About three weeks ago the Blue Suns tried to kidnap a friend. From my understanding they were going to use that to pressure one of the Matriarchs to give concessions to the Batarians. Her mother is rather a well-known, powerful Asari. They shot me dad and I am not sure how I survived it.” I trailed off to gather up my thoughts.

“Koreetsi mou?” He spoke gently, understanding it might be a lot for me.

“I have a group of friends; we tracked them down and took the group of Blue Suns down. No one survived that was wearing Blue Suns armor. Their leader’s name was Trent. He did not survive a second meeting with me.” My eyes met my father’s and he nodded.

“Sto kalo,” he said and nodded. It was good. “The man was all that a Greek should never be. We are of heroic stock and should take pride in that. That man was every bit of evil that mankind can amass. You are due a bounty on him though. There are at least three different corporations that will pay for his capture or death if you have footage.”

I nodded. “I killed his father. Not sure how I can live that one down.”

Dad laughed. “My daughter, you shouldn’t have to live that down. Most likely he never understood that man was his father. The man was a horrible example of humanity. I know that he has no uncles or extended family so you have two options, keep him or ship him off somewhere.”

My arms tightened slightly around Gavin. “You taught me better than that,” I admonished my father and he grinned at me.

“Stefanos’ pay their debts. Good girl.” He nodded towards me. “It seems that of my three children, you are the first to give me a grandchild, yes?”

I winced at my father. “When you put it that way…,” I started and he cut me off with a laugh.

“Expect a delivery in the next week Alex. Some stuff for my new grandson among other things. Be glad the Alliance has someone that let me know you were alive before now. I am proud of you and your stance. And I am sorry I drove you away before. That was… the worst feeling I’ve ever had.” His face spoke of sorrow and I shrugged.

“I made it no easier on you Dad. I also did the worst thing I’ve ever chose to do. Still you taught me better.” I had no regrets to the choices I’ve made except for the ones that put me at odds with my father.

He waved that off with a gesture and shrug. “We all learn life lessons. It is what you do after that tells.” For a moment he searched my eyes. “I will let your brother and sister know they have an adopted nephew now. Maybe Darren will stop dancing around that woman he shows interest in. Gods know that Melisa is dead set on my job when I step down and has no time for men or woman.”

I snorted at that, remembering at that point my sister had been not shy about either gender younger. “I don’t remember a lot from the last few years and some of it comes back to me at odd times Dad.”

He nodded. “Traumatic head injuries tend to do that. Maybe it’s for the best that you do not remember the worst, yes?”

“Those might be no truer words said. Well I will await your package. I think I plan on visiting home in the next few months but first I have to get things organized. I am heading up a new merc group now.” I glanced away in thought a moment.

“Oh?” He started then shook his head. “Duty calls me, I will have to talk to you again another time Alex. Be well.”

I nodded. “I will call you later on in the week Dad. Give Mel and Darren my love.”

“Will do. Good bye daughter,” he said before his visage faded from the screen.

I leaned back in my chair and sighed, hugging Gavin slightly. Well my world was changing rather quickly and I am not quite sure if it’s due to Liara or my change in circumstances.

One of the largest surprises for me was being summoned to Morlena’s office a week after the rescue. Sitting there was one of the darkest blue, almost purple, Asari I’ve ever seen. I mean Morlena was getting there but this new one, she was well into her Matriarch stage.  Morlena nodded to me then to the other Asari and left with a reassuring smile.

I nervously sat down and turned my attention to the Asari. She was serene and studied me a moment before folding her hands in her lap. I didn’t know what to make of this at first. Then she spoke.

“It has come to my attention that you managed to not only rescue my daughter but save the Council from an incident recently. I wanted to thank you in person for rescuing Liara. I know that she would not thank me for being grateful someone was watching out for her but this is the least I can do. My daughter is headstrong. She takes after her father in that regard.”

So this was Benezia. I leaned back in my chair and nodded slightly. “My impression is Liara would rather go her own way. She doesn’t talk much of you but from what little she’s said, its overwhelming to her with your position. I’ve known many children to rebel at the expectations. I know I did.”

Benezia laughed softly and smiled at me. “No truer words have ever been spoken. Sadly it was not my intent to push her but others expected more than I ever cared for from her. What could I do but let her go and find her own way? Her father… told me to let her free herself and fly.” She then gave a softer smile at a memory. “She is my little wing after all. So I have let her do what she enjoys. As a mother that is all I can do. I just wanted to thank you in person for being there for her.”

I waved it off. “Liara is my friend, she helped me when I needed it. How can I not repay that?”

The Asari Matriarch nodded slightly. “You are a human of unusual fortitude. I have a favor to ask of you. One I do not think you would mind. Please watch over Liara for me? I cannot do that from my position and there are things that… well my life is not easy and its demands make it hard for me to relate to my own daughter. Also this is for you,” she said and handed me a datapad.

I glanced at the pad and set it down on the desk. “I am already doing what you ask of me. It’s not a hard thing. Just got to keep her out of trouble she unintentionally walks into.”

The Asari nodded and rose up gracefully. “This is all I can ask of you. I will take my leave now before Liara find me here.”

I got out of my chair as Benezia stood and nodded. “You are welcome.”

Benezia paused a moment then smiled once again. “Do look at the datapad,” was her parting words.

I picked up the pad and looked at it, blinking a bit. Benezia really gives her thanks. There were enough credits to help boost the merc group a lot and some recommendations on some Asari more than willing to join us, all of them were current or former Commandos. It was very strange to me to be handed everything freely like that. It was so surreal.

The next few months were trying to say the least. We got the merc group up and running and most of the newest members first learn how to be bouncers and then they are trained. Mostly we had Asari and Turians at first and then a random Salarian. The Legion, as they started calling it, was close knit. Some of them were suspicious of the humans at first but eventually they came over and things became easier.

What surprised me was the willingness of the Turians that joined. I think Narkul had something to do with that. He might have sent a few my way who were not like the rest. Some were younger who hadn’t been part of the First Contact war, others were old military who didn’t resent humans but saw them as worthy. I could accept that.

A few years went by, the merc group was firmly established and occasionally the Alliance sent out N-school candidates my way for evaluation and teaching. It wasn’t something I minded at all. I got to know quite a few good men and women in the process and my group accepted them all with welcoming arms. There were a few that I disliked though, reminded me too much of Gavin’s father.

The Blue Suns, now they were something to watch. They weren’t so bad before Zaeed Massani was ousted out. I could ignore what they did because it didn’t concern me too much. Eventually though, after Massani was ‘killed’, the Suns became something the Legion bumped into in aggressive fashion most of the time.

Liara finished her schooling and started by exploring Feros a little bit. I sent a group out with her when she went because I was still too busy trying to keep the reins of the merc group. From my understanding Feros was so picked over all’s she could do was explore the aqueducts to see how the Protheans built it. It made for a paper that most of the older Asari ignored for the most part considering Liara’s age.

Gavin, he grew like a weed. I was glad my attention had to be on stabilizing the mercs because that gave me time to be with him. Everyone adored him and he was full of mischief but there was not a mean bone in his body. I eventually got time off to visit home and I took him back with me. Dad doted on him and somehow Darren got the leave to visit so it was a reunion where Gavin was able to meet his uncle and aunt.

The years would go by rather quickly at times with Gavin growing up so fast. He idolized me enough that when he turned 18 he enlisted with the Alliance military. Can’t say I was actually surprised though he managed to surprise me later when he sort of followed in my footsteps. Of course it shouldn’t have been a real surprise considering he always had an interest in sneaking up on others.

Of course, as you know, this is not even close to the end of my life’s story. Life has a way of making you pay attention or throwing things in your way that you have to rise above. And boy did it throw some twists and turns my way. Still, none of knew that the future would be a hell of a lot darker than any past of any race. Very few even had the sense of what was looming and I was smack in the middle of it due to Liara’s research bring up questions that even she could not understand.

**Author's Note:**

> So this was originally posted on FFNet. It was a headcannon that I had a defined path but never got to in this story. It was my first complete story and I figure i'd see what others think on here if they find it. Its not the normal ME Fanfic. That and i'm so interested in expanding the history before the ME1 events.


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